When Donald Trump's team visited Arlington National Cemetery on Monday for an event commemorating American soldiers killed in a deadly attack in Afghanistan, a physical altercation with a cemetery official reportedly broke out, according to NPR.
Citing a source familiar with the incident, the news agency said Arlington officials made it clear that only cemetery employees were authorized to take photos in the area known as Section 60. Despite this, the source told NPR, two Trump campaign staffers shoved and verbally attacked the cemetery official when he tried to prevent them from entering the area and taking photos.
When asked about the alleged altercation, Arlington Cemetery confirmed to NPR that “there was an incident and a report was filed.”
Cemetery officials also drew a line between graveside photographs typically taken by average visitors and those taken as part of “election-related activities.”
“Federal law prohibits political campaigning or election-related activities at Army National Cemetery military cemeteries, including photographers, content creators, or others present there for the purposes of or in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign,” the statement said. “Arlington National Cemetery has affirmed this law and its prohibitions and has widely communicated them to all participants.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung denied that a physical altercation had occurred and said the team was “prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made.”
Cheung also claimed, without providing any evidence, that “a private photographer had been allowed onto the premises and that for some reason an unnamed individual, who was obviously suffering from a mental disorder, decided to physically block the path of members of President Trump's team during a very solemn ceremony.”
Trump attended a wreath-laying ceremony on Monday to commemorate 13 American soldiers killed in a suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate of Kabul airport. The Republican presidential candidate later traveled to Michigan to address the National Guard Association and used the opportunity to criticize Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden's handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago.
“The humiliation in Afghanistan caused by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden triggered the collapse of American credibility and respect around the world,” Trump told the crowd, which included members of the National Guard and their families. According to the According to the Associated Press, Biden's administration had adhered to a withdrawal agreement that the Trump administration signed with the Taliban in 2020. In 2022, a government oversight group said decisions by both Trump and Biden were key factors in the collapse of the Afghan military.
Trump, who repeatedly evaded the draft (as was common among men from wealthy families), has a long history of denigrating U.S. soldiers and veterans. He recently reiterated his claim that the Presidential Medal of Freedom is superior to the military Medal of Honor because the former does not require sacrifice.
His running mate, JD Vance, has also attacked Harris's vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz, who served in the Army National Guard for two decades, accusing him of avoiding deployment to Iraq and engaging in “Stolen Valor garbage.” Given the many unsubstantiated claims made by the Trump campaign, Vance's accusations remain highly dubious.
