At Monday’s wreath laying ceremony, a cemetery official tried to prevent members from Trump’s team from taking photos and videos inside a section where recent US casualties are buried.
The campaign staffers allegedly verbally abused and pushed her to the side . Now congressman Gerry Connolly, a senior House Oversight Committee member, has urged Arlington Cemetery officials to “publicly release all that transpired”.
“It’s sad but all too expected that Donald Trump would desecrate this hallowed ground and put campaign politics ahead of honoring our heroes,” the Virginia representative said in a statement.
The Trump campaign paid a visit to the cemetery on Monday (AP)
“This is a man whose own military generals have disavowed, a man who has called heroes like John McCain suckers and losers, a man who has insulted Gold Star families. His behavior and that of his campaign is abhorrent and shameful,” he added.
House Armed Services Committee member Pat Ryan told Axios he will be speaking with Congressional colleagues about “the proper next steps to ensure oversight and accountability.”
The army veteran, who served in Iraq, added: "This is sacred ground. We must not allow anyone to sully it with campaign theatrics." Meanwhile, senator Tim Kaine told Axios he “want[s] to see the incident report”.
A US Army spokesperson told The Independent on Thursday that participants at Monday’s ceremony were made aware of federal laws and regulations prohibiting political activities on cemetery grounds.
Trump gave a thumbs-up at the grave of a soldier at Arlington National Cemetery (Utah Governor Spencer Cox)
“Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds,” the statement said.
“An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside. Consistent with the decorum expected at ANC, this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption.
“The incident was reported to the JBM-HH police department, but the employee subsequently decided not to press charges. Therefore, the Army considers this matter closed.”
The statement continued: “This incident was unfortunate and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked.”
The incident, first reported by NPR, took place while Trump was attending a commemoration ceremony for the 13 service members killed in the 2021 terror attack at Abbey Gate outside Kabul Airport.
When reached for comment by The Independent , Cheung denied there had been any physical altercation.
He also suggested the official was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode.”
Trump also shared a statement from some family members of the 13 dead service members, claiming the Republican nomination and his team “conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect.”
This story has been amended to clarify the people involved in the incident in question.
Trump has never demonstrated any sentiment for our fallen American military heroes. It’s not something he’s ever been noted for or acting on in his whole life. What he is known for is shallow and not heartfelt manipulation via pics and videos. He recognizes whats important to voters to benefit himself and tries to make himself look like he cares about it only he doesn’t at all. Trump is absolutely ridiculous. If he truly cares, he never made it clear outside of campaigning. It’s not a part of him because it’s not there
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