A rehash of “suckers and losers” saw Gold Star families support former President Donald Trump amid an alleged Arlington National Cemetery altercation.
While President Joe Biden once again fled to the beach and Vice President Kamala Harris released a statement, Trump was welcomed with open arms Monday as a ceremony was held to honor the memories of the service members killed during the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Tuesday, as the Biden-Harris administration’s responsibility for the tragedy set corporate media searching for spin, taxpayer-funded NPR saw fit to publish a claim that “two members of former President Trump’s campaign had a verbal and physical altercation with an official at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday.”
“A source with knowledge of the event said the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump staffers from filming and photographing in a section where recent US casualties were buried. The source said Arlington officials had made clear that only a cemetery staff member could photograph in the area, known as Section 60,” detailed the outlet as it was alleged “campaign staff verbally abused and pushed the official aside” who attempted to prevent staff from entering the area.
In addition to statements from the Trump campaign disputing the claims, members of the Gold Star families released their own statement vouching for the “respect and dignity” displayed by the president and his team.
“We would like to express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to President Donald J. Trump for his presence at the recent Section 60 gathering, honoring our children and their fallen brothers and sisters. On the three-year anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing, the president and his team conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity for all of our service members, especially our beloved children,” the statement read. “We had given our approval for President Trump’s official videographer and photographer to attend the event, ensuring these sacred moments of remembrance were respectfully captured so we can cherish these memories forever.”
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 28, 2024
“We are deeply grateful to the president for taking the time to honor our children and for standing alongside us in our grief, offering his unwavering support during such a difficult time,” members of the families added. “His compassion and respect meant more than words can express.”
In her own additional statement reported by Breitbart, Cheryl Juels, aunt of killed U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee said, “I can speak for myself and our family, and we absolutely welcomed and appreciated having video and photography there with us during the time we spent with President Trump.”
“For us this was monumental, and having it recorded, we felt was important. When has a president and so many veteran members of Congress ever come to pay their respects like this EVER before? This is a hard day for us, and we have been ignored by the current administration for 3 YEARS now, so to have President Trump, take the time, to come and honor our kids at Arlington and lay wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with us, as well as Tyler Vargas Andrews and Kelsee Lainhart, the 2 most gravely injured Marines, to remember and honor the Abbey Gate 13, and whose WIA that day, was truly an unprecedented show of presidential respect, gratitude and honor!” she expressed.
“He almost just lost his own life in service to this country!” added Juels. “But it didn’t end there, he also took the time to come to section 60 and spent more time, laying flowers at their gravesites talking to us and asking to hear all our stories about Nicole’s life and actually listened to us, & left us all feeling validated and like someone cared!”
Meanwhile, Trump campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung shared the NPR report and a screenshot that read in part, “Only former President Trump may have an official photographer and/or videographer outside of the main media pool,” as he defended, “We were granted access to have a photographer there.”
We were granted access to have a photographer there. https://t.co/s2E9lNdksK pic.twitter.com/dXbZ03hwzB
— Steven Cheung (@TheStevenCheung) August 27, 2024
A statement from Cheung noted in the report added, “There was no physical altercation as described and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made. 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.”
His remarks contrasted with a statement from Arlington National Cemetery that detailed, “Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign. Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants. We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed.”
As it happened, the story’s release followed the Harris campaign attempting to rehash the debunked “suckers and losers” hoax that alleged then-President Trump had spoken ill of those who sacrificed their lives in war after a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery where World War I American soldiers were buried had been canceled.
Trump was further defended by Senior Adviser Chris LaCivita who said, “President Trump was there on the invitation of the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families to honor their loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.”
“For a despicable individual to physically prevent President Trump’s team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hollowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery,” he added. “Whoever this individual is spreading these lies is dishonoring the men and women of our armed forces, and they are disrespecting everyone who paid the price for defending our country.”
Bob Quackenbush, deputy chief of staff for Arlington National Cemetery, was seen accompanying Trump during his visit.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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