Trump Desecrates Arlington Cemetery
Campaign Staff Assaults Arlington Employee & Taunts Army
On Monday, 26 August, Trump and his campaign staff violated the sanctity of the Arlington National Cemetery by turning their visit to the gravesites of recently fallen service men and women into a political spectacle, including an assault on a female Arlington employee.
Trump campaign officials contacted military officials earlier this month to arrange a visit to Arlington National Cemetery on the third anniversary of the bombing that killed 13 service members during the evacuation from Afghanistan. The military officials were concerned about Trump turning this into a political event so they laid out the ground rules which allowed only for an Arlington photographer to be present to document the ceremony.
“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign. Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants. We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed.” — Arlington National Cemetery Statement
“Photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support, of a partisan political candidate’s campaign are NOT permitted on the [Arlington National Cemetery] installation.” — From the Cemetery’s Rules provided to the Trump Campaign
When the Trump team tried to bring cameramen onsite anyway, a female cemetery employee tried to stop them but a larger male campaign aide pushed her out of the way. In typical Trump fashion, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung, put the blame on the cemetery employee, claiming she was “suffering from a mental health episode.” Cheung also claimed the campaign would produce footage supporting that claim but has not, even as this has blown up in their face. The cemetery employee has not been identified out of concerns for her safety. The Army has defended the employee, praising her “professionalism” for the way she handled the situation after she was “abruptly pushed aside” by the people in Trump’s entourage, Army officials said in the statement. The deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said the Department of Defense is “aware of the statement that the Army issued, and we support what the Army said.” The Pentagon almost never takes a side in partisan dispute, but not when you unjustly attack one of their own.
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JD Vance first trying to play down the incident said there was a “little disagreement” at the cemetery, but then at his speech in Pennsylvania, Vance falsely accused Harris of criticizing Trump’s visit to the cemetery, which she had not commented on.
“She wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up, she can go to hell.” — JD Vance
On Wednesday, the campaign escalated the situation and posted a TikTok video of the cemetery event using their ill-gotten footage for political purposes, using the footage in a video attacking Harris. “The use of the footage marked a flagrant violation of the law against partisan actions at military cemeteries,” defense officials said. Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita responded by reposting the video and tagging Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, saying he was “hoping to trigger the hacks in her office.
This turned out exactly as Arlington officials feared and predicted it would. Before 2016, a situation like would have been quickly resolved by firing the offending campaign staffer and misogynistic spokesman. No political campaign would have tried to turn a solemn Arlington ceremony, with Gold Star families, into a political ad. But all a malignant narcissistic sociopath holds sacred is himself. Donald Trump should never again be allowed to desecrate any national cemetery with his presence.
Notes
- How a Trump visit sparked turmoil at America’s most sacred cemetery
- Army says a Trump aide ‘abruptly pushed aside’ an Arlington National Cemetery employee
- Vance tells Harris to ‘go to hell’ for cemetery criticism she didn’t give
- Trump team downplays Arlington ‘incident’ in an effort to minimize political fallout
- Army defends Arlington Cemetery staffer ‘pushed aside’ by Trump aides
