ARLINGTON, Va. — Vice President Kamala Harris said former President Donald Trump "disrespected sacred grounds" in his visit to Arlington National Cemetery last week.
In a statement posted to social media over the weekend, Harris criticized the visit, calling Arlington a "solemn place where we come together to honor American heroes ... not a place for politics."
Trump is facing backlash after a cemetery employee said they were pushed by campaign aides as they filmed the former president, ignoring cemetery rules. Trump campaign officials said they had permission to bring someone to record the video.
RELATED: Defense official: Trump campaign was warned about photos before Arlington altercation broke out
The controversy at Arlington National Cemetery is not something U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans (R, VA-02) wants to discuss. As a Navy veteran, Kiggans has placed veterans' issues at the top of her political platform.
Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army national military cemeteries. When asked whether Trump owes the families of the buried war heroes an apology for shooting what appeared to be a campaign ad there, she criticized President Joe Biden.
"I know that Donald Trump was at Arlington. I don't know the details of that visit," Kiggans told 13News Now. "I know that President Biden and the presidential candidate Kamala Harris were not at Arlington. I didn't see anything from them remembering those 13 deaths."
Those 13 deaths are the service members who were killed three years ago in a suicide bombing during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Both President Biden and Vice President Harris issued statements last week marking the somber anniversary.
Biden’s administration was following a withdrawal commitment and timeline that the Trump administration had negotiated with the Taliban in 2020. A 2022 review by a government-appointed special investigator concluded decisions made by both Trump and Biden were the key factors leading to the rapid collapse of Afghanistan’s military and the Taliban takeover.
On Sunday Trump’s campaign released a statement from the Gold Star military families who invited him to Arlington National Cemetery, defending Trump and insisting that Harris is the candidate who is politicizing fallen U.S. service members.
“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,” said the relatives' joint statement. “He was there to honor their sacrifice, yet Vice President Harris has disgracefully twisted this sacred moment into a political ploy.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
