GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and members of his campaign staff visited Arlington National Cemetery where Trump laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, and then attended a wreath-laying ceremony to honor service members killed during the withdrawal of Americans from Afghanistan. What should have been a dignified, somber ceremony turned into a debacle in typical Trump fashion when members of Trump’s campaign staff pushed an Arlington Cemetery official aside when she attempted to inform them that the rules ‘clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.’
The employee reported the incident to authorities as required by regulations but declined to press charges, according to Army authorities. Trump staffers, though, did the usual Trumpian ‘’doubling down’ by at first claiming that they had permission to film the event in Section 60, stating that the family members of those buried there had given them permission, and one staffer even went so far as to claim that an ‘individual with mental issues’ tried to block them.
Trump’s minions went on to post the video, complete with campaign messages, on Tik Tok, and to call Army officials hacks, and even got some of the family members present to pose with Trump over the graves with smiles and thumbs up, a photo that should enrage any veteran or family member of anyone interred there.
A few things to point out. The rules at Arlington are clearly stated and provided to everyone who has any kind of ceremony there, and family members don’t have the authority to wave those rules. There were graves of other than those killed in the Afghanistan bombing whose families were not consulted. And finally, filming and then distributing a campaign video that was taped in a restricted area after being warned it was prohibited is illegal and those campaign staffers who did it should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
While I can fully understand and sympathize with the employee who undoubtedly doesn’t want to suffer the harassment the MAGA crowd inflicts upon anyone who disagrees with anything their cult leader does, she should really file a civil suit for slander against the staffer who described her as some with mental issues.
As far as Trump’s concerned, I doubt if he cares one way or another because the incident put him in the news cycle big time and that’s his goal in anything and everything. I think, though, this is one news item that should be replayed again and again. Every veteran, every Gold Star family, every active-duty service member or family of an active-duty service member should see it and have it etched in their brains. This is the man who wants to be our next commander in chief, and this is how he views those who serve—as props for his productions.
As a 20-year Army veteran who served two tours in Vietnam, and who knew several of those whose names are engraved on the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall, I was angered and disgusted when I saw the photo of the thumbs up, and absolutely enraged when I heard the whole story. I hope that every other veteran out there feels as strongly as I do about this and will express that anger in the most productive way come November.