‘Is Nothing Sacred?’ Morning Joe Crew Slam Trump For Using Arlington Cemetery As ‘Prop For A Political Campaign’

MSNBC’s Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle slammed former President Donald Trump for using the Arlington National Cemetery as a “prop for a political campaign” and called the move “beyond condemnation.”

On Monday Trump participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at cemetery , marking the anniversary of the 2021 Kabul airport terrorist attack that claimed 182 lives, including those of 13 U.S. military personnel, during the Biden administration’s contentious withdrawal from Afghanistan. NPR then reported on Tuesday claims that members of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign verbally abused and pushed a cemetery staff member in an altercation during the visit.

In a statement cemetery officials 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.”

Raising the story on Wednesday morning’s show, host Jonathan Lemire noted that Trump “posed for photographs with a big smile and thumbs up” as he laid the wreath and said: “Some of these veterans are aghast that, in any shape or form, Arlington National Cemetery was being used as a backdrop for political purpose.”

Barnicle then relayed his own shock at the decision to hold a photo op at the military graveyard.

Jonathan, I looked at the same pictures that you’re alluding to now and describing, taken at Arlington taken of the former president, and the thought rolled immediately through my mind: is nothing sacred? That is sacred ground. And the idea that any candidate of any party would use, intentionally or unintentionally, use that sacred ground as a prop for a political campaign is beyond condemnation.

It’s terribly upsetting, obviously, to people who have buried loved ones in Arlington National Cemetery. It’s terribly upsetting to veterans and terribly upsetting to people who view it as a spectacle. And it ought to be for Americans who value what the military does for this country worldwide and has done for this country for centuries and will continue to do for this country.

Watch above on MSNBC.