It’s turning into a war of words — and the Gold Star families are firmly on former President Donald Trump’s side.
Details of a reported confrontation between members of the Trump campaign and an Arlington National Cemetery official on Monday remain hazy, but one thing is clear:
The families of the fallen American service members at the heart of the dispute are supporting Trump.
The public controversy kicked off on Tuesday, when the notably liberal NPR reported that a “verbal and physical altercation” had broken out between “Trump staffers” and an Arlington official who tried to prevent them from recording a Trump visit to graves in the national cemetery as part of ceremonies marking the third anniversary of 13 American deaths in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The report cited a “source with knowledge of the incident” — almost certainly an Arlington employee or someone close to an employee. On Tuesday, Arlington National Cemetery confirmed that an “incident” had taken place, and added an explanation that appeared to point the finger at the Trump campaign for starting it.
“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,” the statement said, according to NBC.
Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheun fired back with a social media post that includes a statement that appears to give permission for Trump to have a photographer present for the occasion.
We were granted access to have a photographer there. https://t.co/s2E9lNdksK pic.twitter.com/dXbZ03hwzB
— Steven Cheung (@TheStevenCheung) August 27, 2024
“We were granted access to have photographer there,” he wrote.
Was Trump right to visit Arlington?
And on Tuesday, the Trump campaign posted a statement to social media from five family members of two of the fallen — Marine Staff Sgt. Darin “Taylor” Hoover and Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee.
The statement was unqualified in its support for Trump and the presence of recording devices for his visit to the area of the cemetery where the remains of the casualties from Afghanistan are interred — known as Section 60.
“We would like to express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to President Donald J. Trump at the recent Section 60 gathering,” the statement said. “The president and his team conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect for all of our service members, especially our beloved children.”
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 28, 2024
Meanwhile, Trump co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita posted a video of Trump laying flowers on the grave of Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss who, like Hoover and Gee, was killed in the Aug. 26, 2021, terrorist bombing at Hamid Karzai Kabul International Airport’s Abbey Gate during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
@realDonaldTrump speaks via phone to the family of SSG Ryan Knauss who couldn’t make it today, as he lays flowers at their boys grave … pic.twitter.com/QNUELSPJKA
— Chris LaCivita (@LaCivitaC) August 26, 2024
Trump spoke by phone to the Knauss family, LaCivita wrote.
In a statement, LaCivita took shots at both the individual behind the incident itself and the source of the NPR report.
“For a despicable individual to physically prevent President Trump’s team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hollowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery,” LaCivita said, according to NBC.
He furiously added: “Whoever this individual is spreading these lies are dishonoring the men and women of our armed forces, and they are disrespecting everyone who paid the price for defending our country.”
Trump had the support of other Gold Star families, too.
Separately, Mark Schmitz, the father of the late Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz — who also died at Abbey Gate — saluted Trump for the attention he paid to the anniversary.
“That’s a leader,” Schmitz told the conservative Real America’s Voice in an interview. “He recognized what was important.”
