Donald Trump, in an apparent effort to distance himself and his campaign from his Arlington National Cemetery scandal, is throwing blame at Gold Star families and the Biden administration.
Asked if his campaign should have posted videos and photos from his event Monday at a ceremony with two Gold Star families, including at Section 60, one of the most hallowed areas in Arlington National Cemetery where photography is greatly restricted, Trump alleged he knew nothing about it.
"We have a lot of people, you know, we have people – Tiktok people, you know, we're leading the internet. That was the other thing. We're so far above [Vice President Harris] on the internet," Trump told NBC News' Dasha Burns (video below) Thursday.
Continuing to try to distance himself, Trump claimed, "I don't know what the rules and regulations are. I don't know who did it," he added, referring to posting videos, including one published to Trump's own TikTok account.
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"It could have been them. It could have been the [Gold Star] parents. It could have been somebody," Trump said.
When told it was his campaign's Tiktok that posted the video, Trump replied, "I really don't know anything about it. All I do is I stood there and I said, 'if you'd like to have a picture, we can have a picture.'"
But then Trump flipped, declaring the Biden administration was to blame for his campaign's photo-op fiasco.
"This was a setup by the people in the administration that, 'Oh, Trump is coming to Arlington, and that looks so bad for us."
But Trump's campaign not only knew what the rules and regulations were, they agreed to them, according to NPR.
"Because federal law prohibits Army employees from being involved with any political campaign, the staff at the cemetery did not deal directly with the Trump campaign about his visit there. A source familiar with the event said the cemetery staff worked with the staff of Republican Congressman Brian Mast of Florida, who joined Trump at Arlington," NPR reported Thursday.
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"Arlington Cemetery staff dealt directly with Mast’s chief of staff, James Langenderfer, briefing him extensively on the rules, which include no campaign events at the cemetery. They also reiterated that only an official Arlington National Cemetery photographer — and no campaign photographer — could be used at Section 60, the location of the recent American war dead. The source said Langenderfer told them the Trump campaign agreed to these rules."
And yet, as NPR also reported Thursday, that TikTok video "may be illegal."
"Former President Donald Trump shared a TikTok video yesterday including footage that likely violates federal law against using military cemeteries for campaigning purposes. The video was posted after NPR reported Trump campaign staffers had a physical altercation Monday with an Arlington National Cemetery staffer who was trying to enforce restrictions during a remembrance ceremony. Only cemetery staff are authorized to take photographs or film in the area."
Watch MSNBC's Katie Phang's reaction to Trump's remarks below or at this link.
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