Vance tells Harris to ‘go to hell’ for cemetery criticism she didn’t give
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance said at a campaign event on Wednesday that he thinks Vice President Kamala Harris “can go to hell,” adding to the increasingly personal attacks former president Donald Trump’s campaign has lodged against the Democratic presidential nominee in recent days.
A reporter at the campaign event asked Vance about an altercation involving Trump campaign staff that took place at Arlington National Cemetery, which the former president visited Monday to mark the third anniversary of the Islamic State bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members during the evacuation from Afghanistan.
Federal law prohibits election-related activities at military cemeteries and as The Washington Post previously reported, a cemetery employee tried to enforce the rules as provided to her by blocking Trump’s team from bringing cameras to the graves of U.S. service members killed in recent years, according to a senior defense official and another person briefed on the incident. A larger male campaign aide insisted the camera was allowed and pushed past the cemetery employee. Vance said at his campaign stop in Erie, Pa., on Wednesday that the press was “creating a story where I really don’t think that there is one.” He said the family members of fallen service members in attendance “invited [Trump] to be there and to support them.” But the Ohio senator, a military veteran, then used the question to tie the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal to the Democratic presidential candidate. “Kamala Harris is disgraceful. We’re going to talk about a story out of those 13 brave, innocent Americans who lost their lives? It’s that Kamala Harris is so asleep at the wheel that she won’t even do an investigation into what happened,” he asserted, though there have been extensive federal investigations into the Abbey Gate bombing. Vance accused Harris of criticizing Trump’s visit to the cemetery, saying: “And she wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up? She can — she can go to hell.”
Harris, who began a two-day bus tour in Georgia on Wednesday, did not bring up the issue on the campaign trail. In an interview with CNN that aired earlier Wednesday — before Vance’s campaign events — Harris campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler said the cemetery incident was “pretty sad” but “not surprising coming from the Trump team.” The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment about Vance’s comments about the Democratic nominee.
Trump and his allies have been known to push past the boundaries of political norms during the former president’s nearly decade-long political career. But the type of crass language Vance used to condemn a political opponent Wednesday is particularly unusual in modern politics.
Defense officials said the confrontation occurredwhen an Arlington National Cemetery staff member warned people employed by the Trump campaign that while they were permitted to take photos and videos in the cemetery, they could not do so in Section 60, the final resting place for many U.S. service members killed in recent conflicts.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung responded to the first report of the altercation,from NPRon Tuesday, by baselessly accusing the employee of “suffering from a mental health episode.” Defense officials said the employee was trying to do her job and the claim of a mental health episode was false. On Wednesday, Cheung said the employee “initiated physical contact that was unwarranted and unnecessary.”
Cheung also said the campaign would release footage to support his claim, but it has not. The Trump campaign on Wednesday posted a video to TikTok that was recorded at the cemetery; in it, Trump is seen at the Tomb of the Unknowns and walking among marble headstones as soft guitar music plays and the former president’s words are heard criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal.
Vance’s harsh language Wednesday came hours after Trump went on a posting spree, sharing increasingly conspiratorial and sometimes vulgar posts on his Truth Social profile aimed at Harris and his political opponents.
Trump shared another user’s post with an image of 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Harris, amplifying a vulgar joke about a sex act — an apparent reference to the Monica Lewinsky scandal and Harris’s short-livedromantic relationship with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown. Another repost showed an AI image of his political opponents — including Harris — in prison. One image called for military tribunals aimed at former president Barack Obama. He also reshared other users’ three QAnon-related images and posts, including an image depicting Trump holding a “Q+” symbol.
QAnon is a baseless conspiracy theory that imagines Trump in a battle with a cabal of deep-state saboteurs who worship Satan and traffic children for sex. Its devotees shared their claims in online conservative forums during much of Trump’s presidency, and the radical ideology has beencredited for helping fan the flamesof extremism that led to theJan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump’s reshares on social media came on the heels of special counsel Jack Smith’sfiling of an updated indictment against Trump. Trump faces thesame four chargesrelated to his alleged attempts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Many of the posts Trump shared were related to the case — including one that superimposed red eyes and horns over Smith’s face and another saying Smith should be prosecuted.
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For someone who claims to know all the best people, Trump hires the worst. I suppose this fits in with distortions about the 'charms' of chaos ...
whatever falls out of the gaping holes under both their noses, the opposite is closer to the truth...
I saw Vance interviewed some years ago about the release of his tell-zilch book, at that point he appeared reasonable but soon after he fell sway to to whatever obsession Trump shared with the unwashed from his toilet to theirs.
I never heard of his book or the movie until relatively recently...
No one expects you to track the NYT Bestseller list.
something wrong with pursuing one's own interests instead of grazing with the herd?
He's definitely weird,
Telling her to go to a place that doesn't exist for a comment she didn't make!
Open mouth stupid rolls out
... trip over or step on tongue.
Democrats are doubling down on attacking gold star families.
Shameful.
They invited him. They wanted the photo. End of story.
It was explained to them that the photo would violate federal law, they chose to ignore the law. End of story.
Trump Honors ‘Suckers and Losers’ With Illegal Arlington Cemetery Photo Op
Historian Allan Lichtman explains Arlington Cemetery's ban on political activity
"There's clear federal law on this, and there's good reason for it," Lichtman said.
Trump campaign was warned not to take photos at Arlington before altercation: Defense official
What federal law prohibits gold star families from taking a photo at Arlington?
ust so we're clear:
The media has decided that the biggest scandal of the last day is not that 13 Americans were killed in Afghanistan three years ago due to Biden and Kamala's incompetence.
It's not that Biden was rude to the Gold Star families by checking his watch as their coffins came off the plane and by only wanting to talk to them about his own son who died of brain cancer.
It's not that Kamala Harris bragged about being the "last person in the room" making the decisions that led to their deaths, that she's never once reached out to the Gold Star families, and that not a single person was fired for the disaster that occurred three years ago
. It's not that on the anniversary of their deaths, Joe Biden was at the beach and Kamala Harris was doing nothing.
No. The media has decided that the biggest scandal is that Donald Trump showed up to Arlington Cemetery to honor 13 American heroes at the invitation of their families who gave him permission to take pictures of the event.
x
After scanning through Greg Price's 'X' gibberish I am not surprised at what he spews.
funny how trump skipped the 2 previous anniversaries, and trump's ignorance of the law is no excuse...
Its not their permission to give. There are far more than the loved ones of those thirteen families buried there. Trump created a campaign video in an area where it is not allowed. That is what happened. Arlington sets its ground rules, not Trump or families of a few of the soldiers that are laid to rest there.
Yes it is. They can invite people to a ceremony at Arlington. They can take pictures there too.
There are far more than the loved ones of those thirteen families buried there.
So every time someone goes to Arlington and takes a picture, they have to express written permission from the family of every person buried there? That's what you think the rule is?
Again, if you want to smear gold star families, have at it.
Trump created a campaign video in an area where it is not allowed.
So you believe any politician who uses a picture from Arlington in a campaign is breaking the law?
You can spin this any way that let's you sleep at night, but this can only be a campaign stop to shore up the recent criticism of Trump's past comments on the military.
Neither Trump, nor Utah Gov Cox (both currently running for office) they haven't attended these graves for the last 2 years, so this damned well smells like an election related activity.
It wasn't the gold star families that were taking photographs and video - there was a professional photographer/videographer that came with Trump as well as campaign officials taking photos and video.
Army regulations and DoD polices prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. Also the official cemetery policy memo says, "Filming or photographing will not be permitted if it conveys the impression that cemetery officials or any visitor or family member is endorsing any product, service or organization." policy
Under the Hatch Act, ANC will not authorize any filming for partisan, political or fundraising purposes.
32 CFR 553 , states, among other guidelines, that "Memorial services and ceremonies at Army National Military Cemeteries will not include partisan political activities.
Cool. Can you show me a link to you or any of these outlets criticizing Biden and claiming he broke the law for using footage of himself at a ceremony in the exact same section of the cemetery in a campaign ad for President?
That's twice you posted this ... why don't you show us your link.
Can you show me a link to where Biden is currently relevant?
Why, yes. Yes it is.
So is Trump's campaign video on X and TikToc from his visit at ANC.
If Trump wasnt there would the family have taken a picture of themselves standing over the grave giving a thumbs up and grinning?
LOL. The contortions of reality you poor folks have to go through to defend Trump.
[✘]
Also, there is a 2nd tombstone in the picture that Trump is using in his campaign. Family of that grave is not happy with Trump using it in his campaign and an article I read says they are considering suing him over it.
The perspective and context are there for you, if you’re willing.
Afghanistan was covered - three years ago, when it happened. It did not happen in the last day.
And did so, in apparent violation of the law, according to the people who work there. That’s on Trump, not the people charged with caring for the cemetery. Good people show up at Arlington every day, and manage to handle their business without starting a fight with cemetery workers. But not Trump and his people. That takes a special kind of asshole.
I don’t think that can be answered unless you know the families and were there. I’ve seen a wide spectrum of emotions and behaviors in Section 60.
A great American institution and pastime.
Is the irony of that post worth moving the goalposts yet again?
And yet you're here commenting on thread postings about Trump. You tell us?
And something that Trump has bigly experience in from both sides.
They were not invited; do you not know that!
Exactly.
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Again with, but Biden? Hey when you link to Biden's team assaulting ANC personnel trying to do their for an illegal photo op well talk about standards, ok? Until then keep supporting the orange asshole.
[✘]
If you have a link please post it showing the violation by Biden . If you don't have a link you should probably STFU or join Trump's PR team.
US Army rebukes Trump campaign for incident at Arlington National Cemetery
The US Army issued a stark rebuke of former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign over the incident on Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, saying in a statement on Thursday that participants in the ceremony “were made aware of federal laws” regarding political activity at the cemetery, and “abruptly pushed aside” an employee of the cemetery.
“Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside,” the Army spokesperson said in the statement on Thursday. Section 60 is an area in the cemetery largely reserved for the graves of those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. ANC is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve,” the statement said.
The Army spokesperson said while the incident was reported to the police department at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, the employee in question “decided not to press charges” so the Army “considers this matter closed.”
No when Trump says they are losers and visiting them in the hospital makes him look weak, that's disrespecting the troops. When he feels he has to break the law to make up for that during his campaign he's just being a douchebag.
This is the report from 2020, gaslighting and flat out BS on your part.
MAGA folk don't get to make the rules at Arlington. Trump and his crew are scum of the earth!
[✘]
All according to protocol.
Imagine that. A leader following the rules and decorum set out by our government.
the trump campaign had agreed to all the ANC pre-conditions prior to the event, and then broke them ...
no worries, I knew what you meant...
This is a bit off topic, but , , , ,
Something I haven't seen in a long time-- last I looked your comment ( 3.1 )-- had 17 likes!!!
Out of the mouth of Juvenile Delinquent Vance...
Only seems that way to those (not you) who wouldn't say shit if they had a mouthful.
What a maroon!
Trump appointing JD Vance was one of the best thing that happened for Democrats in a while. he's "the gift that keeps on giving!
To understand who you are dealing with, none of the people or news outlets that pretend to be upset about Trump appearing at this ceremony gave two shits when Biden used footage of himself at a ceremony in the exact same section of the cemetery in a campaign ad for President.
Not one of them complained.
Link so people know what you’re referring to?
somebody's been chugging the sacramental wine again ...
Show me the article.
Geezus, what an asshole. If you do something they don’t like, you’re some kind of crazy, psycho nut. It’s like a whole organization of 5th grade bullies.
They assaulted her, then they defamed her. And she now has to live in fear of retribution by magas.
count on some maga asshole to dox every female working there soon ...
This is Donald shoving his "presumed" weight around. We can all just imagine how much more of these 'strongman' (toxic masculinity) acts, tactics, and strategies we will suffer as a nation should he regain the office of the president. Welcome to a foretaste!
[✘] Watch the movie "Unfit" to see who Trump actually is.
It tells the story of his seriously sordid life.
UNFIT: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DONALD TRUMP - OFFICIAL FILM TRAILER
This uptight swamp creature needs to chill the fuck out. Maybe he needs a cat.
Vance is out of his league as a Senator and certainly out of his league as as VP candidate.
Fortunately for him, knowledge of government, of policies or of issues is not required when running with Trump all you have to do is spew hate.
"Hillbilly Elegy" my ass, Vance is an embarrassment to hillbillies everywhere.
What's True
Vance did not grow up in Appalachia, but in suburban Ohio, in a house in a neighborhood considered "middle class" at the time he was growing up.
JD Vance Had Middle-Class Upbringing in 4-Bedroom House in Suburban Ohio? | Snopes.com
Trump boldly lies to reporter about the Arlington incident
As his daddy gives the thumbs up over a grave…
I will defer to the people that served decide if they feel either one is disrespectful. I think it is disrespectful to answer for them.
I don’t care for either.
My father is a WW2 vet and definitely thought the kneeling was disrespectful to those that served. I have not asked him about the photo yet.
Kneeling down for the national anthem has nothing specific to do with military veterans, unless you consider the anthem to be a militaristic song.
As I said I will leave it up to those that served decide for themselves, not someone that tells them they should or should not feel disrespected.
I am going to address John in your 'presence.'
John, you're fine. And you are correct. The flag is not disrespected by black footballers (with afro/s) kneeling in protest. Protest is allowed in this nation on a host of situations and as such got the appropriate attention. Has nothing to do with military service. BTW, military service is not dedication to any flag whatsoever. It is service to the nation.
As for what Donald did at Arlington Cemetery. . . he was invited. He came. He participated. Then he insulted us by humiliating the Army (rules) and its cemetery personnel. That is the problem. The Gold Star family invited him. They can do "thumbs up" signing at the grave. . . that is on them/Donald. But, the captioning about '13 dead soldiers. . . . and so on and so forth. . . was manifestly wrong and flouting of the rules.
Finally, (sigh). . . something (a bit risqué) was stated by Bill Maher in one of his segments that indirectly applies here. Remember, Bill Maher is a comedian so. . .
Bill said about other people's children (he has none): "I don't give blowjobs. . . but, I can tell when it being done wrong."
Well, you don't have to serve in the military to understand what is politically wrong (here). You're right. The rules were flouted. The Army, which runs Arlington Cemetery agrees with you about its rules, and its purposes. Also, the 'member' shoved aside roughly—the Army stated chose to not file a charge. . . thus, the matter could go no farther. . . or it would have gone farther.
no worries, lot's of people have no clue what they signed up for ...
Even after HS and college, the NFL can be surprising.
... or what they're talking about.
Trump, and the idiots that work for him, dont know when to stop. If he had just gone to the cemetery and laid a wreath , and let the families tell everyone how wonderful he was , it would have gotten him good publicity. But he and his campaign managers wanted to create a video of him being loved by the "little people", and it rightfully has blown up in his face.
I think that both sides see it as an affirmation, his supporters see that once again, he is singled out unfairly and his detractors see that once again his behavior is unfit for office.
Compared to what ? People who dont make campaign videos at military cemeteries?
I’m not defending Trump or what his supporters think, just what it is.
What is your point except begging for attention?
My point with 14.1 is that his stunt at ANC didn’t cost him with his supporters and didn’t win over any detractors.
I know my comment will never earn the attention that your memes do. Muddy Waters was brilliant, just brilliant.
Trump has measurably dropped even further in the polls just since this story broke. He is losing points by the hour now...
Only MAGA desdenders still pretend that MAGAs is normal!
And now the campaign is saying Harris is playing politics ...
I'm rooting for a 20th century post WWII version of retribution towards trump collaborators in the near future...