Veterans Groups Condemn Trump’s Arlington National Cemetery Photo Op
Donald Trump’s photographed visit to Arlington National Cemetery earlier this week has drawn widespread criticism from many veterans’ groups, members of Congress who served, and even an official who served in the former president’s Cabinet.
Retired Maj. General Paul Eaton, another VoteVets advisor, told
USA Today he “truly cannot think of something more repugnant than starting a political fracas on land where Gold Star families mourn. Someone who would do that should never be Commander in Chief.”
The group also criticized Trump’s vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance, who
defended the campaign’s actions Wednesday and blamed “the media creating a story where I really don’t think there is one” at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.
“Political activity is and was always illegal” the group wrote in a
post on X, labelling Vance a “gutless fraud.” The statement added: “Trump’s campaign got physical with cemetery staff who were upholding the law and protecting the solemnity of all the graves. Rather than stand up for them, JD Vance betrays them.”
Veterans for Responsible Leadership, a non-partisan veterans’ organization,
accused the former president of violating both the “sanctity of Arlington” as well as the “code of conduct for national military cemeteries.”
“I think it’s important that the report was filed. I think it should be investigated,” said former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who served in the Trump administration from 2019 to 2020. “There is no more hallowed ground in this nation than Arlington Cemetery, where we have been burying our heroes, our veterans, since the Civil War.”
“Bottom line, I think the principle is no person or party should ever use Arlington National Cemetery or any of our cemeteries or battlefields for partisan political purposes,” the former Trump admin official told
CNN.
Some veterans serving as members of Congress joined in the criticism.
Veterans groups, members of Congress, and even a former Trump Cabinet member have taken issue with the campaign’s reported actions at the national military cemetery.
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