Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance denied that there was an altercation between two members of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and an official at Arlington National Cemetery earlier this week.
During a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, Vance downplayed the incident and accused the press of exaggerating it. He accused the media of turning the entire incident “into a national headline.”
However, the Ohio senator acknowledged, according to the Associated Press, that “apparently someone at Arlington Cemetery, a staff member, had a little disagreement with someone.”
“In the confrontation at Arlington Cemetery, the media constructed a story that I don’t believe exists,” he said.
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Donald Trump releases video of his visit to Arlington National Cemetery
Meanwhile, Donald Trump shared a campaign video on TikTok showing him visiting graves, posing for photos with Gold Star families and participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
The visit commemorated the third anniversary of an attack on American forces during the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan after the Taliban took power.
In the video, Trump can be heard making a political remark, boasting that under his administration, the U.S. has “not lost a single person in Afghanistan in 18 months.” He called the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan a “disaster” that led to the deaths of 13 soldiers under Joe Biden’s presidency. “This should never have happened,” the video caption reads.
In its report on the alleged altercation, NPR quoted a source as claiming that two members of Trump’s team “cursed and pushed aside” the (cemetery) official after cemetery staff told the campaign that under Section 60, only their officials are allowed to take photos and videos.
The cemetery later confirmed the “incident” and also filed a report.
Responding to the NPR report, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung denied any physical altercation and assured that they were prepared to “release footage if such defamatory claims are made.”