Donald Trump embarrassed after visit to Arlington military cemetery

Kamala Harris accused her Republican rival Donald Trump on Saturday, August 31, of having “disrespectful” au “sacred ground” from Arlington Military Cemetery, where his visit earlier this week resulted in an incident.

The former president visited the national cemetery near Washington on Monday to take part in a ceremony honoring the thirteen soldiers killed during the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan in August 2021. An altercation took place during the visit between his team, who were trying to take photos of the event, and the cemetery’s team, the site’s management announced on Wednesday.

“Donald Trump chose to film a video there, which resulted in an altercation with cemetery staff. Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for a political stunt.”écrit, vice president of the United States, who is running to succeed Joe Biden in November.

Some 400,000 veterans and their families, as well as two U.S. presidents, including John Fitzgerald Kennedy, are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The entourage of the Republican candidate, who has continued to criticize Democrats over the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, shared a statement on Wednesday in which the soldiers’ families assured that the presence of photographers had indeed been “validated” by their care.

The U.S. Army confirmed Thursday that an Arlington employee had been “suddenly pushed”, during Donald Trump’s visit, as she tried to enforce a federal law that bans political activity within the cemetery grounds. “It was an unfortunate incident and he is as unfortunate as the employee (from the cemetery) and his professionalism have been unfairly called into question”deplores a spokesperson for the American army, in a press release.

“Simple and sacred duty”

“If there is one thing we as Americans can agree on, it is that our veterans, military families and service members should be celebrated, never denigrated and treated with nothing less than our utmost respect and deepest gratitude.”continues Kamala Harris. “It is my conviction that a person incapable of fulfilling this simple and sacred duty should never again” to be president of the United States, adds the Democratic candidate.

“President Trump was there at the invitation of families whose loved ones lost their lives because of your incompetence,” indirectly answered him JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, still . “Why don’t you get off social media and start an investigation into these unnecessary deaths?”

Asked about the video on MSNBC on Friday, Donald Trump pleaded ignorance. “I don’t know who did it. Maybe it was (the campaign team), maybe it was the parents (of the deceased soldier)”he said.

While the journalist confirmed to him that the video broadcast on TikTok had been published by his campaign team, the Republican billionaire persisted, saying “not knowing anything about it”. “All I did was stand there and say (to the family), ‘If you want a picture, we can take one.'”he added, accusing the Biden administration of having « manigancé » to stir up controversy.