Harris calls Trump gravesite visit disrespectful, political convenience Reuters
Written by Doina Chiacu
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris criticized Republican presidential contender Donald Trump on Saturday for visiting a military cemetery at Arlington National Cemetery that was later used for a campaign video.
“It's a place of honor; a place where we gather to honor America's heroes who have sacrificed so much to serve this nation. It's not a political place,” Harris wrote in the X post.
The vice president gained weight five days after Trump participated in a wreath-laying ceremony Monday to honor 13 soldiers killed during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
He also visited Section 60 of the Virginia cemetery, where soldiers look after the shrine. Federal law and Pentagon policies do not allow political activity in that category, but Trump's campaign took the videos and used them for promotional purposes as he battled Democrat Harris in a close race for the White House.
Trump's visit has been criticized by veterans and military relatives. The US military on Friday defended a cemetery worker who was pushed aside at Section 60, saying he was doing a professional job and was being unfairly attacked.
“Let me be clear: the former president desecrated holy ground, all because of the political situation,” Harris wrote.
During a speech in Pennsylvania on Friday, Trump said the families of service members who died in Afghanistan have asked him to go to Arlington National Cemetery.
“I got there and we had an event,” Trump said. Then they asked if he could come to the cemetery, Trump said, and they wanted a picture. “I said 'absolutely.' So I was taking pictures at the grave,” he said.
Trump's vice president JD (NASDAQ: ) Vance and press secretary Caroline Leavitt responded to Harris' post on Saturday with their own regarding the withdrawal from Afghanistan and accused Harris of neglecting the military members who died there.
“Why don't you go out on social media to investigate their needless deaths?” Vance wrote.
Trump used the third year on Monday the US withdrew from Afghanistan to try to force a withdrawal under President Joe Biden in his vice presidency.
Harris, 59, was nominated for the Democratic nomination in the Nov. 5 presidential election after Biden, 81, dropped out of the race in July.
The vice president's response to Trump's gravesite visit may provide a clue as to how he will handle the topic in their upcoming Sept. 10 debate.
Harris spoke about Trump's history of disrespecting military veterans.
“This is nothing new from Donald Trump. This is the man who called our fallen members 'suckers' and 'losers' and humiliated Medal of Honor recipients,” he wrote.
Trump once said that the late Senator John McCain, a former Republican president, was not a war hero even though he spent years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam after being shot down as a Navy pilot.
Trump has called veterans who died in World War I “suckers” and “losers,” according to his former White House chief of staff, John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general. Trump continues to dispute that report.
It was not clear whether incidents like these would prevent veterans from voting. In an April report, the Pew Research Center found that military veterans favor the Republican Party.
