Vice President Kamala Harris condemned former President Donald Trump and his campaign for disrespecting “holy land, all for a political stunt.”
In a post on X, the Democratic Party nominee said Arlington National Cemetery is “a place where we gather to honor America’s heroes” and “not a place for politics.”
This is Harris’ first comment since it was reported that an altercation between a female cemetery official and Trump campaign staff on Monday. Trump attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to mark three years since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. He was joined by the Gold Star family a family member died.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
“However, as reported this week, Donald Trump’s team chose to make a video there, causing an altercation with cemetery staff,” Harris said Saturday.. “Let’s be clear: the former president does not respect the holy ground, it’s all for a political stunt.”
He added: “If there’s one thing Americans can agree on, it’s that veterans, military families, and service members should be respected, never looked down upon, and treated with the utmost respect and gratitude.”
The Trump campaign and Arlington National Cemetery officials differ on what happened.
Different experience, same thing happened
The Trump campaign said it was given express permission to bring “campaign-designated media” to the Section 60 cemetery by the Gold Star family. A message seen by CBS News confirmed that the campaign was given directly by the family.
However, the rules at the Army National Military Cemetery are dictated by federal law that prohibits filming for partisan, political or fundraising purposes, according to Arlington National Cemetery’s media policy, despite requests from family members of the deceased.
An Army spokesman said All participants were made aware of the federal law before Monday’s incident.
“ANC workers who tried to comply with the rules were suddenly turned away,” the Army said. “In accordance with the decum that is expected of the ANC, this employee behaved professionally and avoided further disruption.”
The incident was reported to the military police department by an Arlington Cemetery employee, who decided not to press charges. The Army told CBS News it considers the matter closed.
Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung told CBS News in a statement that “there was no physical altercation” and that he was prepared to release the tape.
“The reality is that a private photographer was allowed in the venue and for whatever reason, an unnamed person, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block a member of President Trump’s team during an important ceremony,” the statement said.
Republicans target Harris, Dems want answers
In a post on X responded to Harris, Trump’s running mate Sen. JD Vance said: “President Trump is at the invitation of his beloved family who died because of your incompetence. Why don’t you ask for the death of social media and open an investigation into the unnecessary death?”
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Tom Cotton praised Trump, saying Gold Star families have the right to invite “whoever they want to celebrate this important anniversary.”
“The real scandal is that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden condemned thirteen brave American soldiers to death and did not have the decency to call or meet with Gold Star families to express their condolences,” the Arkansas senator said in a statement released by the Trump campaign.
In her post yourself on XTrump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt blasted Harris, blaming the vice president for his death during the retreat.
“Kamala’s stupidity led to one of the most shameful events in American history and 13 brave US soldiers were killed. She never mentioned her name. She never approached her family,” he said. “For this alone, Kamala does not deserve to be chosen. Kamala has proven that she will be a dangerously incompetent Commander.”
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers with the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the US Army asking for a “full account” of what happened at the cemetery.
“It appears that the Trump campaign-who came to the Cemetery with photographers and videographers-completely flouted the law and the rules they were informed and filmed in the restricted area for use in political TikTok videos,” Rep. Democrat Jamie Raskin. of Maryland wrote in a letter to Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth.
Raskin requested a response from Wormuth on September 9.
Faris Tanyos,
Kathryn Watson,
,
and Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.
