E-Paper
Gold Star families defend Trump's Arlington visit, say Harris ‘bears the responsibility for the deaths of our sons'
The Gold Star families have claimed that it is Kamala Harris, and not Donald Trump, who is politicising fallen members of the US military.
The Gold Star families who invited Donald Trump to Arlington National Cemetery have issued a statement defending the former president amid the controversy. They have claimed that it is Kamala Harris, and not Trump, who is politicising fallen members of the US military.
The Trump campaign has shared a statement made by relatives of some of the 13 American military service members who died in a suicide bombing in 2021 during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. “President Trump was invited by us, the Gold Star families, to attend the solemn ceremonies commemorating the three-year anniversary of our children’s deaths,” the statement read. “He was there to honor their sacrifice, yet Vice President Harris has disgracefully twisted this sacred moment into a political ploy.”
Trump faced backlash after it was reported that his campaign staff “verbally abused and pushed” a cemetery official who tried to prevent them from taking photos and filming at the gravesite. Harris later accused Trump of staging a “political stunt” at the cemetery that “disrespected sacred ground.”
In the statement, the family praised Trump for “consistently” recognising “the heroism of our children,” and said Harris “bears the responsibility for the deaths of our sons and daughters.” The statement also blasted “her catastrophic mishandling of the Afghanistan withdrawal.” The families said Harris is “unfit to serve as Commander-in Chief.”
Were Kamala Harris and Joe Biden invited too?
Meanwhile, GOP Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) claimed that Joe Biden and Harris were invited to the ceremony too, but they chose not to be present. However, a White House official and a Harris aide told NBC News that neither the president nor the vice president were invited.
“There are many ways that we as a nation and our leaders can observe the third anniversary of Abbey Gate,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said last week. “Another way is to continue to work, maybe not with a lot of fanfare, maybe not with a lot of public attention, maybe not with TV cameras, but to work every single day to make sure that the families of the fallen and of those who were injured and wounded ― not just at Abbey Gate but over the course of the 20-some-odd years that we were in Afghanistan ― have the support that they need.”
