Former President Trump’s campaign is feuding with the military over a photo op he carried out at Arlington National Cemetery.
Trump campaign officials attacked military officials who called him out for taking photos at the gravesites of soldiers who were killed in an Afghanistan terror attack, despite a federal law that bans campaigns from doing so.
“For whatever reason (the Arlington official) decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony,” said Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesperson.
Chris LaCivita, a top Trump campaign official, called the unnamed military official a “disgrace.”
“(He) does not deserve to represent the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery,” LaCivita told the New York Times.
Arlington has mostly stayed tight-lipped about the feud, only confirming that a formal report was filed about the incident.
“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign,” according to the Arlington statement.
The confrontation, which was first reported by NPR, took place after Trump participated in an event marking the third anniversary of the terror attack that killed 13 U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan as troops withdrew from the country. Trump blames the chaotic withdrawal on President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
When Trump and his entourage sought to enter an area where recently slain soldiers are buried, a cemetery official tried to block the photographers and other campaign workers.
Trump’s staff responded by verbally abusing the official and physically pushing him aside, NPR reported, citing an unnamed Arlington source.
Trump wound up posting photos on his social media site of himself along with relatives of some of the slain troops by their loved ones’ gravesites.
Trump’s campaign says he was invited by the relatives. However, the law does not give relatives or veterans any authority to invite political candidates to bring photographers or other content creators to the sensitive areas.
