Donald Trump is facing a fresh wave of backlash over his controversial incident at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, after he posted a campaign video on TikTok featuring footage from the visit.
This week, the former president has sparked fury from veterans, military groups, and soldiers’ families after he was, firstly, captured posing with his thumbs up and smiling at a soldier’s grave and, secondly, two of his campaign staffers were accused of verbally abusing and pushing a cemetery official.
Now, Trump is under fire for turning the anniversary of the deaths of fallen American servicemen into a campaign video with social media users branding it “disgusting.”
The video shows clips of Trump walking past graves and through the cemetery, holding his hand to his heart in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where he also lay a wreath.
He is also seen laying flowers on the graves of the 13 service members killed in the 2021 terror attack at Abbey Gate outside Kabul Airport, posing with their family members for photos.
The video, complete with viral, solemn music, has a voiceover of the former president describing the tragic loss of the 13 American lives.
“We lost 13 great, great people. What a horrible day it was,” he says, before turning on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, blaming them for the chaotic withdrawal.
“We didn’t lose one person in 18 months,” he says. “And then they took over that disaster – the leaving of Afghanistan.”
Trump instantly sparked backlash over his visit after he was pictured smiling and flashing a thumbs up next to the graves of fallen soldiers.
His campaign then faced further controversy when NPR first reported that two of his staffers had got into a physical altercation with a cemetery official.
Arlington National Cemetery confirmed in a statement to The Independent that “there was an incident, and a report was filed.”
A source told NPR that the cemetery official tried to stop the two campaign 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, the staffers allegedly verbally abused and pushed the official aside, the source said.
The New York Times has since named Trump’s press secretary Steven Cheung and campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita as the two campaign staffers involved in the incident.
When reached for comment by The Independent when the story emerged, 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.”
Trump’s running mate JD Vance tried to speak out in support of the GOP presidential candidate at a Pennsylvania rally on Wednesday, claiming the alleged altercation is “the media creating a story where I really don’t think there is one” and wildly turning on Harris saying she “can go to hell.”
“You’re acting like filmed a TV commercial at a gravesite,” the Ohio senator said.
“He was there providing emotional support to brave Americans who lost loved ones and there happened to be a camera there.”
Social media users quickly schooled Vance that his running mate had indeed made some kind of promotional video.
“There just happened to be a camera there. What a coincidence!” wrote one X user.
“HE FILMED A TV COMMERCIAL AT A GRAVESITE,” chimed in another.
Other social media users also slammed Trump over the campaign video for turning the cemetery stop into a plug for his 2024 bid.
“This is sick!” one person posted on X.
“Narrator: He literally filmed a commercial at a gravesite,” added another person.
Another social media user chimed in: “What makes you say Trump’s visit to Arlington was a campaign stunt?” HOW ABOUT THE VIDEO THEY ILLEGALLY PRODUCED & HE HIMSELF POSTED ON TIKTOK! TRUMP IS A DISGRACE!”
Trump’s own former secretary of defense, Mark Esper, told CNN he believes the incident involving Trump’s campaign staff at Arlington “should be investigated”.
“No person or party, either side should ever use Arlington National Cemetery – or any of our cemeteries or battlefields for partisan political purposes, or break the so-called rules,” he said.
“We need to maintain its prominence, its importance, its sacredness to the American people and certainly to the veterans.”
The Independent has reached out to Trump’s representatives for comment.