Dem
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GOP
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We don't know if this will go over as badly as the Tim Walz stolen valor stuff, or the remarks about the Medal of Honor. Nonetheless, Donald Trump finds himself enmeshed in another mess involving veterans and their memory. There are actually two problems here; the one that is getting all the attention, and the one that SHOULD be getting all the attention, in our view.
Let's set the stage. Monday was the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate attacks in Afghanistan, which left 13 U.S. soldiers dead. Trump, accompanied by several family members of the victims, visited the Tomb of the Unknowns to lay a wreath there. That does not make a whole lot of sense, since the most recent tomb is for the Vietnam War (and that one is actually empty, meaning the most recent unknown soldier is from the Korean War). Thereafter, Trump headed over to Section 60 of the cemetery, where some of the Afghanistan dead are buried.
Trump, of course, thinks he still retains the powers and privileges of the presidency. He also thinks, more broadly, that rules don't apply to him. Despite what he thinks, there were actually some serious issues with his visit. As a statement from Arlington, issued after the Trump visit, explains: "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 former president was allowed to do his thing at the Tomb of the Unknowns, but when he went over to Section 60, cemetery staff tried to stop his team from filming, and there was some sort of dispute. Arlington staff said it was a physical altercation involving two members of Trump's campaign. Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said there was no physical altercation, and that the whole incident was the responsibility of one person who was "clearly suffering from a mental health episode." Readers can decide for themselves which side to believe.
The dustup in Section 60 is what is getting all the attention here. To us, however, the actual story is this: Have you ever read about Trump honoring the victims of Pearl Harbor? World War II veterans in general? Korean War veterans? Vietnam veterans? Victims of the 9/11 attacks? Not very often, if at all, despite the fact that there are easy opportunities to honor any or all of these groups in or near Washington, DC, where Trump lived (and golfed) for 4 years.
The difference between all of those events and Abbey Gate is that Joe Biden was not president, and Kamala Harris was not vice president, for any of the earlier events. And so, what we have here is a man who has made clear he has no use for dead soldiers, except when he can use them as political props (and even then, it can't be raining). In our view, it does not matter one bit that some of these soldiers' relatives are willing to be accessories to Trump's performative "patriotism" (and note, it is the relatives of only two soldiers). In any case, if we were veterans, it is this dimension of the incident that would really get our blood boiling. (Z)