WASHINGTON, DC – Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said Saturday (Sunday Manila time) her Republican rival Donald Trump “disrespected sacred ground” at a US military cemetery during a contentious pre-election visit.
Trump’s presence at the hallowed Arlington National Cemetery — intended to provide a campaign boost ahead of the Nov 5 vote — has instead mushroomed into a public dispute consuming the candidates and the military.
In Monday’s incident at the cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington, Trump broke rules barring photography for political purposes, posing with relatives of US service members killed in Afghanistan in content that was later shared by his campaign on social media.
“Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt,” Harris said.
In one image, he is standing with family members of a fallen Marine, posing among headstones while grinning broadly and giving a thumbs-up.
“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 wrote on X.
On Thursday, the US Army issued a rare statement confirming that a cemetery staff member had been “abruptly pushed aside” after asking Trump’s team to stop filming in a burial section for those killed in recent wars, where photography for political purposes is banned.
Trump’s campaign team has gone on the offensive by describing the employee as a “despicable individual” and claiming she was suffering a mental health episode.
But the military said the staff member had “acted with professionalism” and it condemned the incident as “unfortunate.”
Trump spoke at length at a rally Friday night about the cemetery incident and Afghanistan and said it was families of fallen troops who asked to have their picture taken with him.
“I said ‘Absolutely.’ I wasn’t doing it for — I don’t need publicity, I get a lot of publicity. I would like to get a lot less publicity,” Trump said in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Trump blamed the White House for the criticism he is drawing.
“Joe Biden killed those young people because he was incompetent. And then they tell me that I used their graves for public relations purposes. And I didn’t. And I’ll tell you what, it was a disgrace,” Trump said.
