Several Republicans have jumped to former President Donald Trump’s defense after he was criticized for having a photographer during his visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
Republicans such as Rep. Brian Mast (FL) and Sen. Tom Cotton (AR) issued statements supporting Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to honor 13 fallen American servicemembers.
In a post on X, Mast pointed out that Trump had been at the cemetery “to comfort the Gold Star families” of the 13 service members whose lives were lost during the Biden administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal.
“President Trump went to Arlington National Cemetery on the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing to comfort the Gold Star families of the 13 service members we lost,” Mast wrote. “Joe Biden, meanwhile, decided to go to the beach on the third anniversary. Guess who the media attacks?”
President Trump went to Arlington National Cemetery on the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing to comfort the Gold Star families of the 13 service members we lost.
Joe Biden, meanwhile, decided to go to the beach on the third anniversary.
Guess who the media attacks?
— Rep. Brian Mast (@RepBrianMast) August 30, 2024
Cotton issued a statement praising Trump “for accepting the invitation of the Gold Star families,” while criticizing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I commend President Trump for accepting the invitation of the Gold Star families to join them at Arlington National Cemetery to honor their loved ones who died during the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Cotton said in a statement. “The families had every right to invite whomever they wanted to commemorate this solemn anniversary, just as President Trump and his aides had every right to accept their invitation; neither the families nor President Trump violated cemetery regulations or policies. The real scandal here isn’t that the families invited President Trump or that he accepted their invitation, and it’s not even that political apparatchiks working for the incompetent secretary of the Army disrespected the wishes of these Gold Star families. The real scandal is that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden condemned thirteen brave American troops to death and didn’t even have the decency to call or meet with the Gold Star families to express their condolences. Kamala Harris should never be our military’s commander-in-chief.”
Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), Trump’s running mate, also came to Trump’s defense after the Harris campaign criticized the former president for visiting Gold Star families at Arlington Cemetery.
“To have those 13 Americans lose their lives and not fire a single person is disgraceful,” Vance said. “Kamala Harris is so asleep at the wheel that she won’t even do an investigation into what happened but wants to yell at Donald Trump for showing up.”
Watch: Donald Trump Visits Arlington National Cemetery on Anniversary of Afghanistan Airport Attack
After Trump’s visit to Arlington Cemetery on Monday, NPR News released an article claiming that Trump campaign officials had gotten into a “verbal and physical altercation” with a cemetery official who had attempted to prevent staff from being able to enter Section 60 and taking photos and filming.
In response to the allegations, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung issued a statement that there had been “no physical altercation” and that a “private photographer was permitted on the premises.”
“There was no physical altercation as described and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made,” Cheung said in his 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.”
Darrin Hoover and Kelly Barnett, the parents of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover; Christy Shamblin, the mother-in-law of Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee; Misty Rose Fuoco, Gee’s sister, and Cheryl Juels, Gee’s aunt issued a joint statement revealing that they had approved Trump’s “official videographer and photographer” to attend the ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony.
An Army official issued a statement labeling the incident as “unfortunate.”
“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked,” the Army official said in a statement, according to CNN. “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.”