“If there is one thing on which we as Americans can all agree, it is that our veterans, military families, and service members should be honoured, never disparaged, and treated with nothing less than our highest respect and gratitude,” Harris wrote.
The first comments from the vice president on this come after it was reported that an altercation erupted between a female cemetery official and a Trump staffer earlier this week. Trump took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to commemorate three years since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. He was joined by Gold Star families whose family members died.
Violation of cemetery rules and Harris’s response
Harris strongly criticised Trump for breaking cemetery rules barring photography for political purposes. Trump’s campaign shared images showing him grinning and giving a thumbs-up among headstones, which Harris termed a disrespect to sacred ground.
“Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt,” Harris said.
US Army confirms cemetery incident
In a statement issued on Thursday, the US Army confirmed a staff member at the cemetery was “abruptly pushed aside” after asking Trump’s team to stop filming in a restricted area. This section is reserved for those killed in recent wars, where photography for political purposes is banned.
The Trump campaign described the employee as a “despicable individual” and claimed she was experiencing a mental health episode. However, the military stated that the staff member had acted with professionalism and condemned the incident as “unfortunate.”
Trump defends his actions at a rally
Trump addressed the matter at a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, arguing it was the families of fallen troops who asked for their photo with him.
“I said ‘Absolutely.’ I wasn’t doing it for — I don’t need publicity, I get a lot of publicity. I would like to get a lot less publicity,” Trump said.
He blamed the White House for the criticism, asserting it was due to the handling of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“Joe Biden killed those young people because he was incompetent. And then they tell me that I used their graves for public relations purposes. And I didn’t. And I’ll tell you what, it was a disgrace,” Trump said.
Trump visited the cemetery with families of 13 service members who died in a 2021 bombing in Kabul during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. His campaign has emphasised that he would have managed the withdrawal better, making it a key point against the Biden-Harris administration.
Ongoing controversy with the military
Trump’s relations with the military have often been controversial. While he frequently praised the armed forces, he reportedly mocked war dead and avoided being seen near military amputees, according to his former chief of staff.
Harris’s response on Saturday underscored her readiness to confront Trump in what is expected to be a bruising election.
Trump has mocked Harris’s name, intelligence, appearance, and racial identity. In response, the Harris campaign has described Trump as “weird,” an aspiring dictator, and “out of his mind.”
Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance, had earlier criticised Harris, responding to a mistaken report that she had already commented on the cemetery visit.
“She can go to hell,” Vance said.
“Don’t focus on Donald Trump showing up to grieve with some people who lost their children. Focus on your own job. Don’t do this fake outrage thing,” Vance later told the Washington Post.
At that time, Harris had not publicly mentioned the cemetery visit.
Kevin Carroll, a former senior aide to Trump’s homeland security chief John Kelly, sharply criticized Trump’s actions in an opinion piece for The Guardian.
“The photo of a grinning Trump giving a jaunty thumbs-up over these patriots’ graves is an indelible image of narcissism risen to the point of sociopathy,” Carroll wrote.