Trump’s Arlington Cemetery Visit: Unsavory and Unsurprising

By JOE CONASON

Try for just a moment to imagine the explosion of anger on the right if a Democratic presidential candidate — or any Democratic candidate — barged into Arlington National Cemetery for a campaign photo op. Imagine the fury on Fox News if such a Democrat had then posted video of herself, on TikTok, with an idiotic grin and thumbs-up pose over the grave of a fallen soldier. Imagine how Republicans in Congress would scream if the errant candidate’s aides had not only ignored federal laws governing that sacred American space but even dared to physically assault an Army employee who tried to prevent their illegal invasion.

Now we know with certainty that all of the above and worse transpired in a scheme by former President Donald Trump’s campaign as it misused an especially hallowed part of Arlington to promote him and embarrass the Biden White House. And rather than apologize, as Trump never does, he is trying to blame others for his offenses and potential crimes, as he always does.

This unsavory story is still unfolding, but what we know so far should surprise nobody familiar with the Trump pattern of tacky behavior, disrespect for service, and extreme belligerence toward anyone who objects to his depredations. It begins with the Trump campaign seeking to politicize the deaths of 13 servicemembers killed during the final departure of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021. (Never mind that the dismal conditions of withdrawal were set up by Trump himself when he appeased Taliban terrorists, even inviting them to the White House, and caved in to a “peace agreement” that enabled them to seize power.)

Seeking to regain lost momentum against Vice President Kamala Harris following the Democratic convention, Trump aides ignored warnings from Arlington staff about using the cemetery as a partisan stage. They were told explicitly that the rules strictly regulate images from Section 60, where Trump appeared and where graves of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are located. They were also told that while Trump could accompany the families to a wreath-laying anniversary ceremony, his campaign staff should refrain from joining the event.

According to Military.com, the Trump campaign received advance written guidance that “photographers ... or any persons attending for purposes, or in direct support, of a partisan political candidate’s campaign are NOT permitted on the (Arlington National Cemetery) installation.”

The Trump staffers not only ignored those caveats but bullied their way in with typical jut-jawed arrogance. When a female cemetery official tried to dissuade them from violating the rules, a large male Trump staffer yelled at her and thrust her aside. (Why does that brutalizing behavior sound so familiar?) After National Public Radio first reported what happened, a thuggish campaign spokesman suggested that the Arlington employee was suffering from a “mental health episode.” Then his thuggish boss, campaign manager Chris LaCivita, demanded that she be fired for her “despicable” conduct.

The U.S. Army — by now all too familiar with the former president known for his draft-evasion antics as “Corporal Bonespurs” — firmly rejected this Trumpian response. Despite the military’s general aversion to political controversy, the Army issued an official statement defending its standards and its abused employee — which said she had “acted with professionalism” when she tried to enforce cemetery rules, noting that during the “unfortunate incident” she had been “abruptly pushed aside,” and vowing that Arlington’s dedicated staff “will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve.”

Even as Trump tried to shift responsibility onto the Army, the families that invited him to Arlington, and anyone else except himself, his campaign doubled down. But veterans across the country, and indeed all Americans who honor military service, marked this disgrace as the latest in a long list of insults uttered by a man who should never have been this nation’s commander-in-chief. No Republican hypocrisy or bullying bluster can excuse it.

Joe Conason is the editor in chief of NationalMemo.com and author of several books, including (with Gene Lyons) “The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton” (St. Martin’s Press, 2000). Conason co-produced a 2004 documentary film, “The Hunting of the President,” based on the book. His new book is “The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism,” with a foreword by George T. Conway III.

From The Progressive Populist, October 1, 2024

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