Harris says Trump ‘disrespected sacred ground’ after Arlington Cemetery incident

Vice President Kamala Harris is doubling down on criticism of former President Donald Trump following reports that Trump’s campaign staff got into a confrontation with an official at the Arlington National Cemetery last week.

The direct attack from Harris is the latest turn in the controversy over Trump’s Arlington visit Monday, where he attended a memorial with families of service members killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Democrats have characterized Trump’s visit as a crass attempt to politicize the military and its fallen service members, and several Democratic lawmakers have pressed the Pentagon to provide more details on whether the former commander-in-chief flouted laws that prohibit political activities at the military cemetery.

NPR first reported that Trump’s team allegedly verbally abused and pushed a staffer when that person attempted to block the photographer who was with the campaign from taking images in Section 60 of the cemetery, where federal law prohibits political or campaign-related photography. The Army, which oversees Arlington National Cemetery, said shortly after in a statement that a cemetery employee “was abruptly pushed aside” when attempting to stop a Trump photographer from accompanying the former president to the grave sites.

Amid the controversy, Trump posted a video on TikTok of his visit, which features a voice-over of him blaming the Biden administration for bungling the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the resulting deaths of 13 service members.

In a post on X, Harris on Saturday accused Trump of politicizing his cemetery visit and using the burial site of fallen service members for a photo opportunity. Harris said the incident at Arlington showed that the former president “is a man who is unable to comprehend anything other than service to himself” and called his actions disqualifying.

“It is not a place for politics,” Harris said of Arlington. “And yet, as was reported this week, Donald Trump’s team chose to film a video there, resulting in an altercation with cemetery staff. Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt.”

“If there is one thing on which we as Americans can all agree, it is that our veterans, military families, and service members should be honored, never disparaged, and treated with nothing less than our highest respect and gratitude,” Harris said. “And 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.”

The Harris campaign previously criticized the Trump team over the incident, calling it “pretty sad” but “not surprising.”

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), quickly fired back at Harris in Trump’s defense. Vance, who served in the Marine Corps, re-upped criticism of President Joe Biden and Harris over the disorderly pullout from Afghanistan and blamed the administration for the Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul that killed 13 service members.

“President Trump was there at the invitation of families whose loved ones died because of your incompetence,” Vance posted on X in response to Harris. “Why don’t you get off social media and go launch an investigation into their unnecessary deaths?”

Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt also rapped Harris’ statement in a post on Saturday, pointing to the vice president’s alignment with Biden on the Afghanistan withdrawal.

“Kamala’s stupidity led to one of the most embarrassing events in American history and 13 brave US soldiers being killed,” Leavitt said. “She has never said their names. She has never reached out to their families. For this alone, Kamala does not deserve to be elected. Kamala has already proven that she would be a dangerously incompetent Commander in Chief.”

At a Pennsylvania rally on Friday, Trump defended his visit, saying he was there at the invitation of Gold Star families.

“They tell me that I used their graves for public relations services, and I didn’t,” Trump said.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who served in the Army’s Old Guard, which provides funeral details at Arlington, also defended Trump in a statement released by the campaign on Saturday. The Arkansas Republican took aim at Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, Biden and Harris over the issue, arguing that “political apparatchiks working for the incompetent secretary of the Army disrespected the wishes of these Gold Star families.”

The cemetery staffer involved declined to press charges following the run-in. The Army defended the official and said participants in the event were informed of federal laws and policies that prohibit political activities at the cemetery.

Democrats on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, have hammered Trump and are upping calls for information on the confrontation between campaign and cemetery staff and if laws on political activities were broken.

In the letter sent Friday to Wormuth and obtained by POLITICO, House Oversight Committee ranking Democrat Jamie Raskin of Maryland said lawmakers need “a full account” of the incident.

“I ask you to provide the Committee with the incident report and a briefing to Committee staff on the facts of this incident, including whether Trump campaign staff violated federal law or Cemetery rules and whether the Trump campaign informed the families of servicemembers buried at the Cemetery that their gravestones would be used in Mr. Trump’s political campaign ads.”

Virginia lawmakers have also weighed in. Earlier this week, Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly called on Arlington National Cemetery to “publicly release all that transpired” during Trump’s visit. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) also said he was “troubled” by reports of the incident and wanted to see the Army’s incident report.

Raskin’s letter marks the first major move for stepped-up oversight on the incident, though House Democrats have few options in the chamber’s minority. More House and Senate Democrats could also push for additional information on the incident when they return in September from a congressional recess.

Other Democrats have harshly criticized Trump, arguing the confrontation and subsequent video amounted to an inappropriate political stunt.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said on Friday that Trump “showed that he thinks he is above the rules that the rest of us live by and his absolute contempt for those who serve.”

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, the top Democrat on the House panel that controls funding for Arlington National Cemetery and veterans’ programs, said Trump “violated” the sacred burial site.

“Our veterans, service members, especially those who paid the ultimate price, deserve our utmost respect and praise and must never be diminished or exploited by cheap political stunts,” she said in a statement.

Jordain Carney and Paul McLeary contributed to this report.