Vice-President Kamala Harris slammed Donald Trump on Saturday for using Arlington National Cemetery as a political prop this week.
“As Vice President, I have had the privilege of visiting Arlington National Cemetery several times. It is a solemn place; a place where we come together to honor American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of this nation. It is not a place for politics,” Harris wrote in a post on X.
“Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt,” she added. “This is a man who is unable to comprehend anything other than service to himself.”
Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) fired back at Harris writing: “President trump was there at the invitation of families whose loved ones died because of your incompetence.”
“Why don’t you get off social media and go launch an investigation into their unnecessary deaths?” he added.
The Trump campaign also responded to Harris: “You’ve never ONCE taken responsibility for the 13 heroes killed on your watch — while you bragged about being the last person in the room.”
Harris’ statement comes as the Trump campaign continues to face backlash from his visit to the cemetery on Monday for the wreath laying to honor 13 US military service members who were killed at Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate in Afghanistan three years go.
A video of the visit posted by the Trump campaign on TikTok showed the former president walking through Arlington and visiting grave sites, with audio of him criticizing the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Sources told NPR that during the visit, Trump campaign staffers “abruptly pushed aside” a cemetery worker trying to enforce federal laws that prohibit conducting “political activities” on military cemetery grounds.
The US Army confirmed the report in a rare statement defending the cemetery official’s professionalism.
Yet, the Trump campaign denied there was an altercation and insisted there were no violations of the law.
But according to a statement from Arlington National Cemetery, federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries
“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,” the cemetery said. “Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”
On Saturday, Harris noted that this is the latest example of how Trump disrespects our troops. She highlighted several other instances where Trump has faced criticism for making disparaging comments about veterans.
“This is nothing new from Donald Trump,” Harris wrote. “It is my belief that someone who cannot meet this simple, sacred duty should never again stand behind the seal of the President of the United States of America.”
