Janice R. Andrews
The recent visit of former President Donald Trump to Arlington National Cemetery was harshly criticised by Kamala Harris, who is running for president as a Democrat. Since Trump’s actions during the visit are becoming more controversial, Harris called the visit a “political stunt” and Trump’s actions insulting.
He says Arlington Cemetery is “not a place for politics.”
Harris spoke out against it on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Arlington is a solemn place; a place where we come together to honour American heroes who have given the ultimate sacrifice in service of this nation.” It’s not the place for business.” Her words were in response to Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, where he took part in a ceremony to honour the 13 U.S. service members who died when the country left Afghanistan in 2021.
During the trip, Trump’s campaign staff filmed and posed with families of the troops who died so that the tape could be used in political ads. There was backlash against this act because federal law and Pentagon rules say that political actions and the use of photos for political purposes are not allowed at Arlington National Cemetery.
To continue her criticism, Harris said, “Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt.”
Discussions about campaign actions and the army’s response
The controversy got worse when, on Thursday, the U.S. Army made a rare public statement saying that a cemetery worker had been “abruptly pushed aside” after asking Trump’s team to stop shooting in a part of the graveyard for people who died in recent conflicts. According to the Trump team, the worker was severely criticised, and they even called her a “despicable individual.” But the military stood up for the staff member, saying she had “acted professionally” and was being wrongly attacked.
Harris pointed out that Trump has made controversial comments about the military in the past, saying, “This is nothing new from Donald Trump.” This is the same person who called our soldiers who died “suckers” and “losers” and made fun of people who received the Medal of Honour. While Harris was talking about a story from 2020 in “The Atlantic,” it was said that Trump had used these insulting words to talk about troops who had died. Trump has denied these claims many times.
Trump explains what he did.
Trump supported his trip to Arlington at a gathering in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, as the criticism against it grew. The people who asked to take photos with him, he said, were the relatives of soldiers who had died. “I replied, ‘Yes.'” I wasn’t doing it to get attention; I already get a lot of it. Trump said, “I’d like to get a lot less attention.” He also said that the reaction was caused by the White House, which made it sound like the criticism was political.
Trump also said again that he would have handled the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan better than the Biden-Harris government, which he has been criticising a lot.
Campaign rhetoric gets stronger as the election gets closer
As the election on November 5 gets near, Harris and Trump are becoming more and more angry at each other. President Trump has made fun of Harris’s work as vice president and said bad things about her race many times. Harris has replied by calling Trump “weird” and “out of his mind.”
Both candidates are trying to get the support of different types of voters, such as soldiers. The event at Arlington has made people wonder how these kinds of scandals might affect veteran supporters, who tend to vote Republican. A study from April by the Pew Research Centre showed that soldiers tend to vote Republican. However, it is still not clear if this event will change their minds.
The debate over Trump’s trip to Arlington shows how hot and divided American politics are right now. Both Harris and Trump are still campaigning hard, and their different views on problems related to the military and soldiers are likely to have a big impact on how people vote as Election Day gets closer.
