WASHINGTON: US Vice President Kamala Harris criticised Republican presidential rival Donald Trump on Saturday over a visit he made to soldiers’ graves at Arlington National Cemetery that was later used in campaign video footage.

“It is a solemn place; a place where we come together to honor American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of this nation. It is not a place for politics,” Harris wrote in an X post.

The vice president weighed in five days after Trump took part in a wreath-laying ceremony on Monday honouring the 13 service members killed during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

He also visited Section 60 of the Virginia cemetery, which the military considers hallowed ground. Federal law and Pentagon policies do not allow political activities in that section, but Trump’s campaign posted a TikTok video with footage from the cemetery as he battles Democrat Harris in a close race for the White House.

Video posted on social media shows graves of US troops killed in Afghanistan

Trump’s visit drew criticism from some veterans and soldiers’ relatives. The US Army on Friday defended a cemetery employee who was pushed aside at Section 60, saying she acted professionally and was being unfairly attacked.

“Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt,” Harris wrote.

During a speech in Pennsylvania, Trump said families of service members who died in Afghanistan had asked him to visit Arlington National Cemetery.

“I got there and we had a ceremony,” Trump said. The families asked if he could come to the graves, Trump said, and then they sought a photo. “I said, ‘Absolutely’. So, I was taking pictures at the grave,” he said.

Trump launched a concerted pushback posting videos on his Truth Social account, showing relatives of at least seven of the 13 killed in the Afghanistan pullout defending his actions at the cemetery. Many of them addressed Harris directly and disputed her stated support for military families.

“Vice President Harris, why will you not express your condolences yourself? Why have we never heard from you?” asks Christy Shamblin, mother-in-law of Sergeant Nicole Gee, who was among those who died in the 2021 withdrawal, in one video.

Trump used the third anniversary on Monday of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan to try to pin the chaotic pullout under President Joe Biden on his vice president.

It was unclear whether such incidents would sway the veterans’ vote. In an April report, the Pew Research Center found that military veterans favour the Republican Party.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2024