Families of fallen soldiers defend Trump amid blowback to Arlington Cemetery visit
Family members of American soldiers who lost their lives during the pullout of United States troops from Afghanistan are defending former President Donald Trump after he has come under fire for an alleged altercation between a Trump campaign staffer and an Arlington National Cemetery official during an event commemorating their deaths.
Trump visited ANC on Monday, which marked the third anniversary of the suicide bombing at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, that left 13 American soldiers dead. The terror attack occurred as the U.S. military was in the process of withdrawing its presence from Afghanistan, which led to the Taliban's takeover of the country.
Video footage from Monday’s event, posted to Trump’s account on the social media platform Truth Social, shows the Republican presidential nominee laying a wreath at the cemetery.
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On Tuesday, National Public Radio published an article alleging that a “verbal and physical altercation” took place between Trump campaign staff and an ANC official based on testimony from an unidentified source. The government-funded news outlet reported that “the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump staffers from filming and photographing in a section where recent U.S. casualties are buried,” referring to Section 60.
When the ANC official attempted to stop campaign staff members from entering Section 60, according to NPR, they “verbally abused and pushed the official aside.”
ANC provided a statement to NPR asserting that “it can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed” but did not provide further details.
“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,” ANC stated, insisting that it “reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”
Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign staffer, shared an X post on Tuesday containing a screenshot of a message from ANC stating that “Only President Trump may have an official photographer and/or videographer outside of the main media pool.” Cheung cited the communication as evidence that “[w]e were granted access to have a photographer there.”
After the NPR story broke, five family members of two of the 13 servicemembers killed three years ago released a statement on Truth Social expressing gratitude to Trump for his attendance at the Section 60 gathering.
“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,” they stated.
“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 and so we can cherish these memories forever.”
The family members concluded by saying that Trump’s “compassion and respect meant more than words can express.”
Darin Hoover and Kelly Barnett, the parents of fallen Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, were among the signatories of the letter. Three family members of fallen Sgt. Nicole Gee, her mother-in-law, Christy Shamblin, her sister, Misty Rose Fuoco, and her aunt, Cheryl Juels, also showed support for the former president.
While neither President Joe Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris showed up at the cemetery commemoration, both Biden and Harris released official statements commemorating the deaths of the servicemembers.
Biden, who is on vacation in Delaware this week, praised the soldiers who lost their lives in the terror attack as “patriots in the highest sense,” noting that some of them “were born the year the war in Afghanistan started,” referring to 2001 and that some of them “were on their second or third tour.”
“They embodied the very best of who we are as a nation: brave, committed, selfless," Biden stated. "And we owe them and their families a sacred debt we will never be able to fully repay, but will never cease working to fulfill.”
Harris expressed sorrow that 13 “American heroes were taken from us on that day” as she reflected on the anniversary of the terror attack.
“Today and everyday, I mourn and honor them. My prayers are with their families and loved ones. My heart breaks for their pain and their loss,” she added.
“These 13 devoted patriots represent the best of America, putting our beloved nation and their fellow Americans above themselves and deploying into danger to keep their fellow citizens safe.”
The cemetery event controversy comes as the Trump campaign and some family members of those killed in the terror attack blame the Biden administration’s execution of the withdrawal from Afghanistan for causing chaos in the country.
A video published on Trump’s Truth Social account on Monday featured family members of the fallen soldiers claiming that Biden was disrespectful when meeting with them shortly after the tragedy.
“This guy’s sitting across from me, on that Tarmac, and he keeps looking at his watch,” the father of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui recounted.
“Biden did not want to be there, I don’t know what he wanted to do but he did not want to be there,” said another family member. “He looked at his watch multiple times. I saw it three times.”
The mother of Hoover proclaimed that Biden “let my son down, he let the 13 down, he let the 45 wounded down, he let those 174 civilians down.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
