Veterans Group Slams Trump Over His ‘Greatest Insult To All
This past week, a progressive veterans group strongly criticized Donald Trump, calling his behavior “disgusting” after the GOP nominee’s controversial visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
The incident involved an altercation between his campaign staffers and cemetery officials, sparking outrage.
In a powerful ad released by the political action committee VoteVets, a narrator condemned the event, saying, “Perhaps the most offensive act of all—transforming a visit to a military cemetery into a political spectacle, complete with cameras.”
The ad comes on the heels of an incident at Arlington National Cemetery, where an Arlington official claimed they were “pushed” aside by Trump’s campaign staff during his visit. The official had reportedly asked the staff not to film certain areas of the cemetery where recently fallen U.S. troops were laid to rest.
According to the cemetery, federal law prohibits any “political campaign or election-related activities” within Army National Military Cemeteries.
Despite this, Trump later shared a campaign video featuring footage from his visit. A campaign spokesperson has denied the allegation that an official was pushed, suggesting instead that the individual may have been “clearly suffering from a mental health episode.”
In response, Vice President Kamala Harris criticized Trump on Saturday, accusing him of “disrespecting sacred ground” for what she described as a “political stunt.”
Over the weekend, Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to share clips featuring the families of fallen service members. One of these clips praised Trump and his team as “respectful,” while another criticized Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing her of “playing politics.”
In response, the veterans’ advocacy group VoteVets criticized Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday.
The group highlighted several past incidents where Trump insulted the military, including reports that he referred to Americans killed in World War I as “suckers” and “losers” and his comparison of avoiding sexually transmitted diseases to his “personal Vietnam.”
The narrator of the ad expressed outrage, saying, “It’s disgusting. Donald Trump, the grave markers that veterans and military families kneel before are not your political props. They represent the heroes we’ve served alongside—men and women you could never measure up to, friends who lived and died by the oath we all swore to uphold.”
The speaker added, “This is something you’ll never understand, and that’s why we’re doing everything we can to ensure that no service member ever has to salute you as commander-in-chief again.”