Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard called out Vice President Kamala Harris for skipping the anniversary ceremony honoring the 13 service members killed during the botched Afghanistan withdrawal Sunday on CNN.
Former President Donald Trump and his team visited Arlington Cemetery on Monday where he and his staff honored the 13 Gold Star families, but later received backlash in the media for their coverage of the ceremony. Appearing on “State of the Union,” Gabbard stated Trump’s team had “exchanges” with Arlington officials approving them to “bring a camera” to document the ceremony.
“I checked with the campaign on this question and they have exchanges with the officials at Arlington Cemetery. They were approved to bring a camera there to document this historic and momentous day that should not be forgotten by any American,” Gabbard said.
The former Democratic representative also noted that some family members who attended the ceremony had “invited” Trump, while highlighting Harris “has not made any effort” to console the families.
“I know President Trump wanted to share that with others, especially given the fact that President Biden [and] Harris, I heard, were invited by some of these family members. They not only didn‘t come, they didn‘t even respond to that invitation,” Gabbard continued. “Now to have Kamala Harris put this statement out yesterday saying that she stands with these families, she stands with the military and with veterans — you only have to look at the response that came from the Gold-Star families of these 13 service members of how offended they were by that statement.”
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“Given she has not made any effort — not on that third anniversary or any other time — to call them directly to offer her condolences and even apologies for their decisions that led to the loss of their loved ones,” Gabbard said.
While CNN host Dana Bash questioned whether Trump’s campaign might have violated the cemetery’s rules on memorial service coverage, Gabbard intervened to point out the lack of “universal coverage” of the anniversary.
“I’d just like to say one last thing on this because I think it‘s important and I‘ve seen a lot of the headlines and the stories and the concerns that people are raising about this. But to me as a soldier and as someone who has been deployed to different war zones in the world, I have friends who are buried there at Section 60,” Gabbard said.
“What is more outrageous to me is that there wasn‘t universal coverage of the momentous day of the third anniversary of the loss of these 13 gold star families,” Gabbard said. “And the outrage that they feel that their loved ones are not getting the kind of coverage and memory that their great sacrifice deserves. That is what everyone should be outraged about.”
Reports have claimed that during the former president’s visit to the cemetery, officials allegedly tried to stop Trump staffers from filming and photographing in a section reserved for U.S. casualties, where only cemetery officials are allowed to film, according to NPR. A Trump staffer allegedly verbally abused and pushed an official aside, after the official reportedly intervened as the staffer was filming, the outlet reported.
However, Trump’s campaign spokesman Steven Cheung repudiated the allegations in a statement to NPR, noting that a private photographer “was permitted on the premises.”
“We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made,” Cheung said. “The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises, and for whatever reason an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony.”
