President Donald Trump shared a statement from the families of 13 soldiers killed during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Kabul, and blasted Sen. Kamala Harris for criticizing the former president’s involvement in a ceremony honoring the soldiers.
During a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Trump campaign staff allegedly shoved cemetery staff to film Trump laying a wreath, allegedly violating rules banning political activities at cemeteries, but the controversy intensified after the vice president said Saturday that Trump had “disrespected sacred ground for the sake of a political performance.”
But eight “Gold Star” families who lost relatives posted a message on Trump’s Truth social platform on Saturday saying they had invited Trump to the ceremony and criticizing the Biden-Harris administration for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan three years ago.
“Why did they have Trump there? It wasn’t to support his political campaign,” Mark Schmitz, father of Marine Corporal Jared Schmitz, said in a video. “We wanted a leader. That’s why you and Joe didn’t get a call.”
Darren Huber, father of Marine Sergeant Taylor Huber, said Harris lacked “empathy and a basic understanding” of the events and stressed that Trump’s appearance had been a show of respect.
The Army said this week that a cemetery employee was “abruptly shoved away” while speaking with Trump’s staff.
On Saturday, Democratic lawmakers called on the military to provide a report on what happened at the cemetery on Monday. Harris later tweeted that military cemeteries are “not a place for politics.”
“Let me be clear: the former president desecrated sacred grounds for political stunts,” Harris added, saying she would “never politicize” such events.
The debate continued on Sunday, with Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman and Iraq War veteran who is now a member of Trump’s transition team, telling CNN’s State of the Union that she attended the ceremony and witnessed “a solemn and solemn memorializing and honoring the lives of those who were lost.”
Gabbard said she saw Trump “spending time with Gold Star recipients’ families at their invitation” but “did not see or hear any altercation until something later came to light on the news.”
Gabbard denied Harris’ remarks and said she supports the families of veterans. “I was told President Biden and Ms Harris were invited by some of these families. Not only did they not come, they didn’t even respond to the invitation,” Gabbard told CNN.
Senator Tom Cotton continued the Republican counterargument, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Gold Star families had invited not only Trump but also Joe Biden and Harris, and disputed that the photos and videos were for political purposes.
“Joe Biden was sitting on a beach. Kamala Harris was sitting in a mansion in Washington. She was four miles away. She was 10 minutes away. She could have gone to the cemetery and honored the sacrifice of those young men and women,” Cotton said.
According to NBC News, White House officials and aides to Harris disputed Cotton and Gabbard’s account that the president and Harris were invited to the ceremony.
As the political fallout from the Arlington ceremony continues, it has also drawn Utah Governor Spencer Cox, a moderate Republican who had distanced himself politically from the GOP presidential candidate until the assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in July.
Cox, a Latter-day Saint, later said he believed it was the power of God that saved Trump’s life, even calling it a miracle.
Cox attended the controversial ceremony and posted photos from it on her official account, after her re-election campaign later apologized.
“Honoring those who serve should never be ‘political,'” the statement said, adding that they are “committed to running the best campaign possible, and will achieve that by not politicizing things that should not be politicized.”
