By Doina Chiacu
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris criticized Republican presidential rival Donald Trump on Saturday over a go to he made to troopers’ graves at Arlington Nationwide Cemetery that was later utilized in marketing campaign video footage.
“It’s a solemn place; a spot the place we come collectively to honor American heroes who’ve made the last word sacrifice in service of this nation. It’s not a spot for politics,” Harris wrote in an X publish.
The vp weighed in 5 days after Trump took half in a wreath-laying ceremony on Monday honoring the 13 servicemembers killed through the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
He additionally visited Part 60 of the Virginia cemetery, which the army considers hallowed floor. Federal legislation and Pentagon insurance policies don’t enable political actions in that part, however Trump’s marketing campaign took movies and used them in commercials as he battles Democrat Harris in an in depth race for the White Home.
Trump’s go to drew criticism from some veterans and troopers’ kin. The U.S. Military on Friday defended a cemetery worker who was pushed apart at Part 60, saying she acted professionally and was being unfairly attacked.
“Let me be clear: the previous president disrespected sacred floor, all for the sake of a political stunt,” Harris wrote.
Trump vice presidential decide JD (NASDAQ:) Vance and press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Harris’ publish with their very own that referenced the Afghanistan pullout and accused Harris of being insensitive to the servicemembers who died there.
“Why don’t you get off social media and go launch an investigation into their pointless deaths?” Vance wrote.
Trump used the third anniversary on Monday of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan to attempt to pin the chaotic pullout underneath President Joe Biden on his vp.
Harris, 59, grew to become the Democratic nominee within the Nov. 5 presidential election after Biden, 81, pulled out of the race in July.
The vp’s response to the Trump cemetery go to could give a clue to how she would deal with the subject of their upcoming Sept. 10 debate.
Harris referred to Trump’s historical past of insulting army veterans.
“That is nothing new from Donald Trump. It is a man who has referred to as our fallen service members ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’ and disparaged Medal of Honor recipients,” she wrote.
Trump as soon as mentioned the late Senator John McCain, a former Republican presidential candidate, was not a warfare hero regardless that he spent years as a prisoner of warfare in North Vietnam after being shot down whereas a Navy pilot.
Trump referred to fallen World Struggle One veterans as “suckers” and “losers,” in line with his former White Home chief of workers, John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps normal.
It was unclear whether or not such incidents would sway the veterans vote. In an April report, the Pew Analysis Heart discovered that army veterans favor the Republican Social gathering.
