(Corrects Kamala’s spelling by 3)
(Reuters) – Two members of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign team got into a “verbal and physical altercation” with an official at Arlington National Cemetery during a visit by Trump this week, NPR reported on Tuesday.
Trump participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to honor the 13 service members killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Later in Detroit, Trump blamed Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic rival for the White House, and President Joe Biden for what he called a “catastrophic” withdrawal.
Citing an unnamed source, NPR reported that when a cemetery official tried to stop members of Trump’s campaign from filming and photographing an area where military personnel are buried, Trump staffers “verbally abused and pushed the official aside.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung disputed that report. “There was no physical altercation as described and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory allegations are made,” Cheung said.
“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.”
Arlington National Cemetery confirmed in a statement that an incident occurred and a report was filed.
“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities at Army National Military Cemeteries, including photographers, content creators, or any other person present for the purpose of or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign,” the cemetery said.
She did not respond to requests for a copy of the report or an explanation of why Trump’s campaign was allowed to visit the cemetery as part of its campaign. (This article has been republished to correct Kamala’s spelling in paragraph 3)
(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer, editing by Michael Perry)
