There was a time when politicians caught in a lie would deny it, weasel out of it, change the subject. We blame Trump for wiping that one off the map, though in fact it was Sarah Palin who first played the tactic of ignoring the shame of being caught. Now Vance is imitating Trump imitating Palin:
Vance defends telling Harris to ‘go to hell’ for nonexistent cemetery criticism
Former president Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, doubled down Wednesday on telling Vice President Kamala Harris to “go to hell,”falsely repeating that she had feigned outrage over an altercation between Trump’s campaign and an Arlington cemetery worker when she had not. [emphases added]
(That’s the lede, by the way. And the WaPo story was picked up word for word by the Spokane Spokesman Review, in the conservative part of the Pacific NW: Vance defends telling Harris to ‘go to hell’ for nonexistent cemetery criticism.)
So far as I can find, the Harris campaign has made only one comment on Arlington:
A reported physical confrontation between former President Donald Trump's campaign aides and an official at Arlington National Cemetery is "pretty sad" but "it's not surprising coming from the Trump team," says a spokesman for Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign. (Trump Arlington cemetery incident 'pretty sad,' Harris campaign says).
“Pretty sad.” How outrageous!!! (Harris was probably asked about the Arlington Atrocity in the CNN interview, but that hasn’t been broadcast yet, so unless Vance has a time machine, “pretty sad” is all he is responding to.)
Vance isn’t the only Trump flunky doubling down. Team Trump Makes Arlington Cemetery Fight Way Worse With Army Insult (TNR):
Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita has decided to take the team on a death spiral against America’s military, calling the office of the Army secretary a bunch of “hacks.”
“Reposting this hoping to trigger the hacks at @SecArmy,” LaCivita wrote Thursday afternoon, resharing a campaign video of Donald Trump at Arlington National Cemetery earlier this week.
Vance’s original “She can go to hell” attack was his way of blaming her for the Afghanistan withdrawal attack at Abbey Gate:
"Three years ago, 13 brave, innocent Americans died, and they died because Kamala Harris refused to do her job, and there hasn't been a single investigation or a single firing," Vance, Trump's running mate, said in response to a CBS News reporter's question about the interaction at Arlington National Cemetery while he campaigned in Erie, Pennsylvania. ( Politics JD Vance says Kamala Harris "can go to hell" over Afghanistan withdrawal)
Two things to note here: One, there was an investigation: U.S. Central Command Releases Report on August Abbey Gate Attack (US DOD Feb 4, 2022). Two, the Vice President, the job Vance is going for, is not in the chain of command and has no power to fire anyone in the armed forces. It’s not her job. Vance really should read the job description before he applies for the job.