Trump’s campaign issued a joint statement with the Gold Star military families on Sunday defending his visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
The statement also criticized Kamala Harris for bringing politics into the situation after she released a statement on X Saturday in which she said, “Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt.”
This comes after controversy over photos and videos of Trump’s visit were released by his campaign. Partisan activity is prohibited on cemetery grounds at Arlington Cemetery.
The Gold Star military families, who are families who have lost loved ones in the military, invited Donald Trump to commemorate the third anniversary of the August 26th Kabul Airport suicide bombing, which killed more than 100 Afghans and 13 US military members.
Trump’s Arlington Cemetery Visit and Statement
Trump laid wreaths for Seargent Nicole Gee, Staff Seargent Darin Hoover, and Staff Sergeant Ryan Knauss, who were all lost in the Kabul Airport suicide bombing.
In the joint statement, the Gold Star families said,
“We invited President Trump, the Gold Star families, to attend the solemn ceremonies commemorating the three-year anniversary of our children’s deaths. He was there to honor their sacrifice, yet Vice President Harris has disgracefully twisted this sacred moment into a political ploy.”
Trump offered his thanks to the Gold Star families while simultaneously jabbing President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in a separate statement on X:
“I want to thank the families of our Great Warriors who have been lost to us for the way they came together as one, and thanked me for attending, at their request, the Celebration of the wonderful family members who, because of the incompetence of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, are no longer with us.”
Donald Trump’s statement continues his criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal. Since Trump was in office, the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan had been in the works, but Biden’s administration finished planning and executing it. Trump has repeatedly claimed that his withdrawal plan differed from what happened under the Biden administration.
In 2022, a government-appointed special investigator found that decisions made by both administrations factored into the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
In a 90-second video, Sergeant Gee’s mother-in-law Christy Shamblin further criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal and Kamala Harris’ statement regarding Trump’s visit.
“Why won’t you return a call and explain how you call my daughter-in-law’s death a success? Why would you take a day where we celebrated the deaths of our loved ones and use it to disparage not only them but us?”
