Army says Arlington National Cemetery staffer was 'abruptly pushed aside' during Trump campaign visit this week. Here's what's happened in the days since.
The U.S. Army on Thursday said that an Arlington National Cemetery employee was "abruptly pushed aside" earlier this week during a dispute with members of the Trump campaign.
Former President Donald Trump visited the cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Monday to attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He was with the families of the 13 American troops who were killed when the U.S. military pulled its troops from Afghanistan in 2021.
Here’s what’s happened this week.
What happened on Monday
After the wreath-laying ceremony, Trump accompanied the families and two Marines who were injured in the attack, Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews and Corporal Kelsee Lainhart, to Section 60 of the cemetery. It’s an area that’s mostly reserved for U.S. veterans who have been killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The service members Trump was honoring were killed in a suicide bombing at Abbey Gate at the airport in Kabul on Aug. 26, 2021.
Two members of Trump’s campaign staff reportedly had an altercation with a cemetery official who tried to prohibit the Trump staffers from filming and photographing in Section 60, NPR reported. At that point, Trump’s campaign staff allegedly verbally abused and pushed the official aside.
A defense official told the Associated Press that the Trump campaign was warned ahead of Monday’s visit that they could not film or take photographs in Section 60 due to the cemetery’s media policy.
“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,” the cemetery said in a statement.
Despite the federal law, the Trump campaign posted a video of Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery, including Section 60, to the former president’s TikTok account after the visit.
Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who was also at the cemetery, posted a photo of Trump along with the family members of the deceased veterans, giving a thumbs-up in the cemetery.
There is no greater sacrifice than giving one’s life in defense of our country. It was my solemn privilege to stand alongside the family of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover at Arlington National Cemetery today as we paid tribute to his legacy and the 12 others who lost their lives… pic.twitter.com/tR6dhpMYsB
— Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox (@GovCox) August 26, 2024
Trump team’s response to the altercation
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung disputed the reports of a physical altercation in a statement to NPR and added that the campaign was prepared to release footage of the incident “if such defamatory claims are made.”
"The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and for whatever reason an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump's team during a very solemn ceremony," Cheung said.
Meanwhile, Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita claimed that Trump was invited by the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families to attend Monday’s ceremony to honor their loved ones.
“For a despicable individual to physically prevent President Trump’s team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hollowed [sic] grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. Whoever this individual is spreading these lies are dishonoring the men and women of our armed forces, and they are disrespecting everyone who paid the price for defending our country,” LaCivita said in a statement to CNN.
Reaction from the U.S. Army
Arlington National Cemetery confirmed that "an incident" did occur during Trump’s Monday visit to the cemetery and a “report was filed.”
In an official statement released Thursday, the Army defended its Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) staff member who was trying to enforce the no photography or filming policies in the altercation with the Trump campaign staffers. “An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside [...] the employee subsequently decided not to press charges. Therefore, the Army considers this matter closed.”
Veteran reactions
Monday’s incident is drawing condemnation from veterans, some of whom have called what happened “a new low.”
Several members of Congress who are also former veterans, including Democratic Reps. Ted Lieu from California and Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts, called out what they say is Trump’s disrespect of fallen veterans on social media.
The nonpartisan nonprofit group Veterans for Responsible Leadership called the political stunt “gross” and “a new low.”
A progressive veterans nonprofit, VoteVets, condemned the incident, saying in a post on X, “With an election coming up, Donald Trump pretends to care about all those who died in service to America.”
JD Vance tells Kamala Harris to 'go to hell' over Trump's cemetery visit
Trump has blamed President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the bombing that happened amid the U.S.’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Harris on Monday said that it was the “courageous and right decision to end America’s longest war.”
When Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, was asked about Trump’s visit to Arlington on Monday, he condemned the Biden administration's handling of the U.S.’s withdrawal. Vance said at a rally on Wednesday: “Kamala Harris is so asleep at the wheel that she won’t even do an investigation into what happened, and she wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up. She can, she can go to hell.”
