White House says families of service members killed during Afghanistan withdrawal did not invite Biden and Harris to Arlington Cemetery

Victor Boolen

White House says families of service members killed during Afghanistan withdrawal did not invite Biden and Harris to Arlington Cemetery

se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0

se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0 se0

Gold Star families did not invite President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to Arlington National Cemetery until last week to mark the third anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan, a White House official and a Harris aide told NBC News, denying separate claims. made Sunday by GOP Sen. Tom Cotton and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

The two spoke about former President Donald Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery last week, where he has drawn criticism for posing for pictures with Gold Star families in a section of the cemetery where photography is traditionally prohibited.

Last week, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Trump’s visit was “a personal invitation to the families.”

“There are many ways that we as a nation and our leaders can celebrate the third anniversary of Abbey Gate,” Kirby said. “The other way is to keep working, maybe not with much fanfare, maybe not with a lot of public attention, maybe not with the TV cameras, but working every single day to make sure that the fallen and their families who were hurt and wounded – not just at Abbey Gate but the 20 or so the year we were in Afghanistan — they have the support they need.”

The military also accused a member of Trump’s campaign staff of a “sudden push.”[ing] to the side” by a cemetery employee who tried to enforce restrictions on photography and videography at the site.

Asked about the incident Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Cotton, R-Ark., told Moderator Kristen Welker, “These families, Gold Star families whose children died because of the incompetence of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, called [Trump] to the cemetery and they asked him to take those pictures. … Do you know who the families also invited? Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Where were they? Joe Biden was sitting on the beach. Kamala Harris was sitting in her mansion in Washington DC.”

Cotton said he spoke with Kelly Barnett and Darin Hoover, Marine Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, who died in Afghanistan three years ago. Cotton did not specify whether they were the family members he claimed invited Biden and Harris.

Gabbard, a former Democratic House member from Hawaii, echoed Cotton, telling CNN on Sunday: “I heard that some of these family members invited President Biden and Harris. They not only didn’t come, they didn’t even respond to that invitation.”

Trump defended the photos and videos he took at the cemetery last week, telling NBC News in Michigan on Thursday that the Gold Star family “asked me if I would support a picture at the grave of their loved one who should not have died. .”

He said he did not take a photo of the initiative, adding: “When I was there, I did not ask for a photo. When I was there, they said, ‘Sir, could we have a picture at the grave?'”

The Trump campaign released a TikTok video of the ceremony, and Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita released a video of X Trump laying flowers on the grave.

Trump also defended it on Thursday, saying: “Well, we have a lot of people … TikTok people.”

“I don’t know who did it, and it could have been them. It could have been the parents. It could have been somebody,” he added.

At a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on Friday, Trump said: “Joe Biden killed young people because he was incompetent. And then they tell me I’m using their graves for public relations, and I wasn’t.”

Trump took to X on Saturday night, posting several videos of relatives of slain service members defending him and criticizing Harris and Biden.

In one video, Darin Hoover addresses Harris directly, saying Trump treated the family with “the utmost respect” and asking where he and Biden were “on August 26, 2024.” He said they were nowhere near Arlington Cemetery. You couldn’t be bothered to be with us or say our children’s names.

In a statement attached to Trump’s campaign videos on Sunday, members of the Gold Star families said they were “appalled” by Harris’ attempts to “politicize” Trump’s visit to the cemetery.

“We, the Gold Star families, invited President Trump to participate in solemn ceremonies commemorating the three-year anniversary of our children’s deaths,” the statement said. “He was there to honor their sacrifice, but Vice President Harris has shamefully twisted this sacred moment into a political stunt.”

The videos were released in response to Harris’ statement on Saturday that Trump “disrespected the holy ground” when he visited Arlington National Cemetery in the Virginia suburb of Washington.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com



Source link

Leave a Comment