Former President Donald Trump is insisting there was no altercation during his visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday morning, Trump wrote, “There was no conflict or ‘fighting’ at Arlington National Cemetery last week. It was a made up story by Comrade Kamala and her misinformation squad.”
“She made it all up to make up for the fact that she and Sleepy Joe have BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS for the INCOMPETENT AFGHANISTAN Withdrawal – THE MOST EMBARRASSING DAY IN U.S. HISTORY!!! They should have been at Arlington, not on a beach or studying for a Debate,” he continued.
Finally, Trump wrote, “Thank you to my friends, the GREAT GOLD STAR FAMILIES, for revealing the TRUTH OF A BEAUTIFUL DAY OF HONOR. Could not have been a nicer moment-And there were no fights or problems, only in the heads of those that are destroying our Country! MAGA2024.”
Last Monday, Trump visited Arlington to lay a wreath in honor of the service members who were killed in a suicide bombing during the evacuation from Afghanistan.
However, the trip has been marred by a report that two members of Trump’s campaign were involved in some sort of physical altercation. The incident began when photographers tried to record the former president’s visit to the area where military casualties are buried.
NPR reported the incident was caused by a staffer trying to prevent “filming and photographing in the section.”
As the cemetery notes, “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… Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”
Trump campaign Steven Cheung told a different story in a statement, saying, “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.”
In a statement on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Army said, “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.”
“An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside,” it continued.
Finally, the statement said, “This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. ANC is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve.”
