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Two members of Donald Trump’s campaign staff have been accused of verbally abusing and pushing an Arlington National Cemetery official when the former president attended a wreath-laying ceremony on Monday.
A source told NPR that the cemetery official had tried to stop Trump staffers from filming and photographing in a section of the cemetery known as Section 60, where recent US casualties are buried.
Arlington officials had reportedly made it clear to the Trump campaign beforehand that only cemetery staff are authorized to photograph or film in the area.
But when the official tried to stop Trump’s team from entering Section 60, two unnamed staffers allegedly verbally abused and pushed the official aside, the source said.
Arlington National Cemetery confirmed in a statement to The Independent that “there was an incident, and a report was filed.”
“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,” said the cemetery.
“Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”
In response to the claims, Trump also took to Truth Social, posting a statement overnight on behalf of family members of two fallen service members – Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover and Sergeant Nicole Gee – who died during the US’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
In the statement, the family members claimed “the president and his team conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity for all of our service members, especially our beloved children.”
The statement said that the families had given their approval for Trump’s official videographer and photographer to attend the ceremony, to ensure “these sacred moments of remembrance were respectfully captured and so we can cherish these memories forever.”
When reached for comment by The Independent, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung denied there had been any physical altercation and vowed to release video to back it up.
He also suggested the official who tried to block the staffers from entering Section 60 was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode.”
“There was no physical altercation as described and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made,” he said in the statement.
“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.”
Cheung also directed The Independent to a post on X, where he had refuted the claim the Trump campaign had been told they were not be permitted to film or take photos in the area.
Responding to a post from NPR correspondent David Folkenflik, in which he appeared to share screenshots of an email reporting the alleged incident, Cheung insisted “we were granted access to have a photographer there” and shared his own screenshot which read: “Only former president Trump may have an official photographer and/or videographer outside of the main media pool.”
Senior Trump campaign advisor Chris LaCivita also hit out at the “despicable individual” he claimed tried “to physically prevent President Trump’s team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace.”
“Whoever this individual is spreading these lies are dishonoring the men and women of our armed forces, and they are disrespecting everyone who paid the price for defending our country,” he added.
The alleged incident unfolded on Monday when Trump was attending a wreath-laying ceremony marking the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate attack where 13 service members were killed during the US’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
Trump’s visit to the cemetery has also come under criticism after he was photographed doing a thumbs up and flashing a smile in front of the graves of the dead service members.
This comes after Trump insulted veterans earlier this month by saying the top civilian award is “better” than the Medal of Honor – awarded to service members for “conspicuous gallantry” in the face of enemy fire – because veterans given the award are “either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead.”
His comments sparked a wave of backlash, with Army National Guard Veteran and Senator Tammy Duckworth condemning him as “despicable”: “Frankly, he’s not fit to be commander in chief.”
She also highlighted previous comments made by Trump, where he allegedly called veterans “suckers and losers.”
