A New York Times reporter joined CNN on Wednesday night to discuss her reporting on the family of a Green Beret buried in Arlington National Cemetery expressing concern that former President Donald Trump's campaign filmed at his gravesite without permission and in an area where campaign photos are banned.
Trump's TikTok account posted a video showing him smiling and giving a thumbs-up as he attacked the Biden administration's handling of the Afghanistan exit.
Master Sgt. Andrew Marckesano died by suicide in 2020 and was buried in Section 60 of the Arlington cemetery, which is reserved for people who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. His family told the Times that Marckesano's gravesite was caught in pictures with Trump.
While another family said they wanted Trump there, this family did not. Furthermore, the cemetery bans photos and videos taken for campaign use.
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"The Marckesano family was not contacted or asked for this, but his gravestone is now in that TikTok video from behind," said Times reporter Maggie Haberman on CNN, noting the front of the gravestone with his name is in pictures posted online with Trump giving a thumbs-up.
"They were very clear, the family, in a statement to us, that they really support this other family and other families that lost people in the Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul in Afghanistan, but that this is a restricted area and that they would hope that everyone would be respectful of that. It was a restrained statement but it was very clearly displeased," said Haberman.
The Trump campaign declined to "directly address" what the family said when asked about the TikTok video, according to Haberman.
Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, told the Times in a statement that “the campaign will continue to respect the wishes of the Gold Star family members who invited President Trump.”
Haberman noted Gold Star families are not a "monolith" and have differing political opinions. The "broader issue" in this case is whether Trump violated federal law.
"So far the Trump campaign has yet to provide documentation of its claim that it was permitted to do this and that there was an agreement," she said.
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