Vice President Kamala Harris slammed former President Trump after an incident involving his staff and a cemetery official this week, prompting a critical response from Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance.
On Thursday, an Army spokesperson said an Arlington National Cemetery official was "abruptly pushed aside" while interacting with Trump's staff during a wreath-laying ceremony event Monday. The ceremony honored service members killed by ISIS-K terrorists Aug. 26, 2021, during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The U.S. Army said in a statement the employee was making sure that Trump's team was "made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds." Trump claimed he took photographs with families of service members who had requested them.
"[President] Joe Biden killed those young people because he was incompetent," Trump said during a speech in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Friday. "And then they tell me that I used their graves for public relations services, and I didn’t."
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In a statement posted on Facebook Saturday afternoon, Harris accused Trump's team of disrespecting service members.
"As Vice President, I have had the privilege of visiting Arlington National Cemetery several times," the statement from the Democratic presidential nominee said. "It is a solemn place; a place where we come together to honor American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of this nation. It is not a place for politics.
"And yet, as was reported this week, Donald Trump’s team chose to film a video there, resulting in an altercation with cemetery staff," Harris added. "Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt."
Harris claimed the incident was "nothing new" from Trump and accused the former president of "call[ing] our fallen service members ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’ and disparage[ing] Medal of Honor recipients."
"This is a man who is unable to comprehend anything other than service to himself," Harris added, before promising to "never politicize" service members.
The statement was met with swift backlash from Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, who suggested Harris "get off social media."
"President Trump was there at the invitation of families whose loved ones died because of your incompetence," Vance wrote on X. "Why don’t you get off social media and go launch an investigation into their unnecessary deaths?"
Karoline Leavitt, who served as an assistant press secretary during the Trump administration, also criticized Harris on social media.
"Kamala Harris bragged about being the last person in the room with Joe Biden when they decided on their terrible Afghanistan withdrawal plan," Leavitt wrote. "Kamala’s stupidity led to one of the most embarrassing events in American history and 13 brave US soldiers being killed.
"She has never said their names. She has never reached out to their families," Leavitt added. "For this alone, Kamala does not deserve to be elected. Kamala has already proven that she would be a dangerously incompetent Commander in Chief."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump and Harris campaigns for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
