vice-president Kamala Harris condemned former President Donald Trump and his campaign for disrespecting “sacred ground, all in the name of a political stunt.”
In a message posted on X, the Democratic Party candidate said that Arlington National Cemetery is a “place where we come together to honor American heroes” and that it is “not a place for politics.”
These are Harris’ first comments since it was reported that a Altercation between female cemetery manager and Trump campaign staffer Monday. Trump participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to commemorate three years since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He was joined by Gold Star families including deceased family members.
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“And yet, as reported this week, Donald Trump’s team chose to film a video there, which resulted in an altercation with cemetery staff,” Harris said Saturday.. “Let’s be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for a political stunt.”
She added: “If there is one thing we as Americans can all agree on, it is that our veterans, our military families, and our service members should be honored, never denigrated, and treated with nothing less than our utmost respect and gratitude.”
The Trump campaign and Arlington National Cemetery officials differ on what exactly happened.
Different experiences, same incident
The Trump campaign said it received explicit permission from Gold Star families to bring “campaign-designated media” into Section 60 of the cemetery. Messages reviewed by CBS News confirmed that the campaign received direct permission from the families.
However, the rules in place at Army National Cemeteries are dictated by federal law, which prohibits any filming for partisan, political or fundraising purposes, according to Arlington National Cemetery’s media policies, even if there are requests from family members of the dead.
An army spokesman said: All participants were informed of federal laws before Monday’s incident.
“An ANC employee who attempted to enforce these rules was abruptly removed,” the military said. “In keeping with the decorum expected at the ANC, this employee acted professionally and avoided any further disruption.”
The incident was reported to military police by the Arlington Cemetery employee, who decided not to press charges. The Army told CBS News it considered the case closed.
Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung told CBS News in a statement that there was “no physical altercation” and that they were prepared to release footage.
“The fact is that a private photographer was allowed into the premises and for some reason an anonymous individual, clearly suffering from a mental health issue, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team from a very solemn ceremony,” the statement said.
Republicans target Harris, Democrats want answers
In a message on X in response to Harris, Trump’s running mate Senator JD Vance “President Trump was there at the invitation of the families whose loved ones died because of your incompetence. Why don’t you get off social media and launch an investigation into these needless deaths?”
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Tom Cotton praised Trump, saying Gold Star families had every right to invite “whoever they want to commemorate this solemn anniversary.”
“The real scandal is that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden sentenced 13 brave American soldiers to death and did not even have the decency to call or meet with the Gold Star families to express their condolences,” the Arkansas senator said in a statement released by the Trump campaign.
In her own post on XTrump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt lashed out at Harris, accusing the vice president of responsibility for the deaths during the withdrawal.
“Kamala’s stupidity led to one of the most embarrassing events in American history and the deaths of 13 brave American soldiers. She never released their names. She never contacted their families,” she said. “For that alone, Kamala does not deserve to be elected. Kamala has already proven that she would be a dangerously incompetent commander in chief.”
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the US military demanding a “full account” of the incident at the cemetery.
“It appears that the Trump campaign, which arrived at the cemetery with a photographer and videographer, completely flouted the laws and rules it was informed of and filmed footage in the restricted area for use in a political TikTok video,” Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland wrote in a letter to Army Secretary Christine Wormuth.
Raskin requested a response from Wormuth by September 9.
Faris Tanyos,
Catherine Watson,
,
and Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.
