CNN
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Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday sharply criticized Donald Trump over the incident Monday through the former president’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery, saying that he “is unable to grasp something aside from service to himself.”
Veterans, service members and their households “ought to be honored, by no means disparaged, and handled with nothing lower than our highest respect and gratitude,” Harris wrote in a lengthy post on social media.
She continued: “It is my perception that somebody who can not meet this straightforward, sacred obligation ought to by no means once more stand behind the seal of the President of the USA of America.”
Trump has confronted controversy over his go to to the cemetery after a wreath-laying ceremony to honor the 13 US service members who have been killed within the Kabul airpot bombing in 2021. Trump marketing campaign officers have mentioned a person bodily blocked the previous president’s group from accompanying him through the go to, and a cemetery spokesperson confirmed to CNN “there was an incident” and a “report was filed.”
The US Military issued a stark rebuke of Trump’s marketing campaign over the incident, saying Thursday that individuals within the ceremony “have been made conscious of federal legal guidelines” concerning political exercise on the cemetery, and “abruptly pushed apart” an worker of the cemetery.
Saturday’s assertion marks the primary time the vice chairman has straight addressed the controversy as she makes an attempt to attract a distinction between herself and her rival forward of their September 10 debate. Michael Tyler, the Harris marketing campaign’s communications director, beforehand known as the incident “fairly unhappy” in an interview on CNN however mentioned it’s what individuals have “come to count on from Donald Trump and his group.”
Christy Shamblin, the mother-in-law of Marine Corps. Sgt. Nicole Gee, who was killed at Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate in 2021, attended the Arlington event. Shamblin mentioned Saturday that she hadn’t witnessed any altercation and that that the media ought to give attention to the implications of the Afghanistan withdrawal as an alternative of the controversy over Trump’s go to.
“I perceive that there could have been a little bit little bit of a misunderstanding, however … let’s speak in regards to the People and the Afghans we left behind. Let’s speak in regards to the individuals we introduced over that weren’t vetted. Let’s speak in regards to the wounded, and that’s what we need to carry focus again to,” Shamblin mentioned on CNN’s “Smerconish.”
The Trump marketing campaign on Saturday despatched out an announcement from Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, an Military veteran and Trump ally, defending the previous president and attacking Military Secretary Christine Wormuth.
Cotton, who was not current throughout Trump’s journey to the cemetery, mentioned “neither the households nor President Trump violated cemetery laws or insurance policies” and claimed the “political apparatchiks working for the incompetent secretary of the Military disrespected the desires of those Gold Star households.”
Accounts of the incident on Monday have diverse, with the marketing campaign insisting there have been no violations of the regulation, whereas cemetery officers have mentioned Trump’s group was advised forward of time to keep away from political exercise. Federal regulation prohibits political campaigning or election-related actions inside Military Nationwide Navy Cemeteries, in keeping with an announcement from Arlington Nationwide Cemetery obtained by CNN.
A video of the go to posted by the Trump marketing campaign on TikTok confirmed the previous president strolling by way of Arlington and visiting grave websites, with audio of him criticizing the Biden administration’s administration of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
NPR first reported there had been a “verbal and bodily altercation” through the cemetery go to. A supply with data of the incident advised the outlet {that a} cemetery official tried to stop Trump’s group from photographing and filming within the space the place current US casualties are buried. In response, Trump marketing campaign workers “verbally abused and pushed the official apart,” in keeping with NPR.
An Military spokesperson mentioned whereas the incident was reported to the police division at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Corridor, the worker in query “determined to not press prices” so the Military “considers this matter closed.”
CNN’s Kate Sullivan contributed to this report.