Team Trump Attacks Arlington Staffer As ‘Mentally Ill’ Disgrace To ‘Hollowed’ Gravesite After Fracas Over Photo Op

Trump campaign staff berated an Arlington Cemetery employee as “mentally ill” and a “disgrace” to the “hollowed [sic]” military burial site after reports that the official moved to “physically block” members of former President Donald Trump’s team from conducting a photo op during a wreath-laying ceremony on Monday.

The former president was there to mark the anniversary of the 2021 Kabul airport terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 13 U.S. military personnel, during the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, however, reports emerged that members of the campaign verbally abused and pushed a cemetery staff member in an altercation that happened when the team attempted to record and photograph the ceremony. Federal law prohibits political campaign activities at all Army national cemeteries, including Arlington.

Denying the allegations, the Trump campaign harshly hit back and berated the staff member. Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung issued a statement accusing the employee of “clearly suffering from a mental health episode.” Cheung wrote:

We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made. The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and for whatever reason an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony.

Adding to the statement, campaign advisor Chris LaCivita told the New York Times that the employee was “a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hollowed [sic] grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.”

The Trump campaign is yet to release footage to prove its dismissal of the reports. However, in a statement issued to NPR, Arlington National Cemetery said it “can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed.” Cemetery officials also said that they had issued explicit legal guidance that said: “Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign.”

Officials added that the law and its prohibitions were also “reinforced and widely shared” with all participants on the day.

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