WASHINGTON: On Saturday, US Vice President Kamala Harris chastised Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump over a visit to Arlington National Cemetery veterans’ graves that was later featured in campaign videos.
It is a somber location where we unite to pay tribute to American soldiers who have given their lives in defense of this country. Politics have no place here,” Harris stated in an X post.
Five days after Trump participated in a wreath-laying ceremony on Monday honoring the 13 service men slain during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the vice president offered his thoughts.
He also went to the Virginia Cemetery’s Section 60, which is regarded by the troops as hallowed ground. Political activities are prohibited in that area by federal law and Pentagon regulations, yet Trump’s team released a TikTok video including graveyard footage while he faces off against Democrat Kamala Harris in a closely contested presidential contest.
Social media footage showing the graves of US soldiers slain in Afghanistan
Relatives of soldiers and other veterans criticized Trump’s visit. A cemetery employee who was shoved aside at Section 60 was defended by the US Army on Friday, claiming she behaved professionally and was the target of unjust criticism.
Harris stated, “Let me be clear: the former president disregarded holy ground, all for the sake of a political stunt.”
Trump claimed to have been asked to visit Arlington National Cemetery by the families of service members who lost their lives in Afghanistan during a speech in Pennsylvania.
“We had a ceremony when I got there,” Trump remarked. According to Trump, the relatives begged him to visit the graves and then requested a picture. Yes, absolutely, I said. Thus, I was shooting photos at the cemetery,” he stated.
With videos posted on his Truth Social account, Trump initiated a coordinated counteroffensive in which the families of at least seven of the thirteen people murdered during the departure from Afghanistan defended his conduct at the grave. Many of them went straight to Harris and refuted her claims of being supportive of military families.
Vice President Harris, why won’t you personally offer your condolences? Why have you never gotten back to us? In one video, Christy Shamblin—the mother-in-law of Sergeant Nicole Gee, one of the victims of the 2021 withdrawal—asks.
On Monday, the third anniversary of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan was utilized by Trump to attempt to place the blame for the disorganized evacuation under President Joe Biden on his vice president.
It remained to be seen if these instances would affect the veterans’ vote. According to a Pew Research Center study from April, veterans of the armed forces lean Republican.
