2 members of #Trump's campaign staff had a verbal & physical altercation Monday w/an ofcl at #ArlingtonCemetery where Trump participated in a [performative] wreath laying ceremony.The cemetery ofcl tried to prevent Trump staffers from filming & photogr...
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…Other #veterans & bereaved families viewed #Trump’s visit as #disrespectful to a sacred space that also belongs to them & to the nation. #Section60 is a place where young widows can be seem trimming grass w/hand scissors, sharing comfort w/other #GoldStarFamilies, & decorating graves w/flowers & beads. Visitors have long taken graveside photographs there, & sitting presidents have visited before, but not as part of #campaign events.
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“That’s not the time or place for it,” said Karen Meredith, a #VoteVets board member whose son, 1st Lt. Ken Ballard, is buried in the second row of #Section60. “They had to #bully themselves into this thing. The lack of #respect for the rules or the norms or the #laws at #Arlington — there’s just no respect.”
#law #disrespect #military #ServiceMembers #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #USpol
#HarrisWalz2024 -
#Trump’s running mate, Sen #JDVance, turned the incident into a #political attack during a #campaign speech in Erie, PA, on Wednesday. “We’re going to talk about a story out of those 13 brave, innocent Americans who lost their lives,” he said. He then falsely accused #Harris of criticizing Trump’s visit to the #cemetery, which she hasn’t commented on. A Harris campaign spox called it “pretty sad.”
#law #disrespect #military #ServiceMembers #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #USpol
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Here is the photo @Nonilex it referring to of the grinning Trump in Section 60.
It reminded me. Of Trump’s thumbs up and smile at an El Paso hospital following a mass shooting. Melania is holding the baby whose parents were murdered in a mass shooting. -
#Trump has repeatedly defied restrictions [#law] on using #federal property for #campaign purposes by staging a #political speech at #MountRushmore, participating in a television interview inside the #LincolnMemorial, & holding [some of] the 2020 #RepublicanNationalConvention at the #WhiteHouse itself. As president, he pushed unsuccessfully for a *European-style* [nazi-esque] #military parade down Pennsylvania Ave.
#disrespect #Arlington #USpol
#HarrisWalz2024
https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-election-2020-ap-top-news-republican-national-convention-politics-54b27b22c8d4d5472f7ccfaeb0bb87ea -
I mean when #Republicans #RonJohnson & #JohnThune think #Trump is breaking the #law, it’s got to be egregious:
#USpol #HarrisWalz2024
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/08/05/899336580/biden-plans-to-accept-democratic-nomination-remotely -
At the same time, #Trump has repeatedly badmouthed the sacrifices of American #ServiceMembers. In 2015, he mocked the late Sen #JohnMcCain (R) for his time as a #POW, saying, “I like people who weren’t captured, & earlier this month said the civilian Presidential Medal of Freedom was “much better” than the #military #MedalOfHonor because those who received the latter were “either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead.”
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#Trump’s fmr aides have said he similarly disparaged #ServiceMembers in private….Ret Gen #MarkMilley, fmr chair of the #JointChiefs, said Trump responded to appearing w/a wounded #veteran by saying, “No one wants to see that.” His fmr chief of staff, #JohnKelly, said Trump called US #Marines buried at cemeteries in France “suckers” & “losers.”…Kelly has also said Trump told him during a previous visit to #Section60 at #ArlingtonNationalCemetery, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”
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“He never understood why would you do anything that doesn’t benefit you,” one fmr snr #Trump WH ofcl said…. “I remember talking to him about death & #sacrifice for the country, & it was like talking Greek to him. That’s why it’s the height of hypocrisy he’s there laying a wreath, given his general feelings about #veterans.”
The fmr ofcl said it was painful to see the suffering families put their faith in Trump. #law #disrespect #military #Service #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #USpol
#HarrisWalz2024 -
“They are clearly grieving, & their kids have given the ultimate sacrifice, & they think he can help them,” the fmr ofcl said. “They don’t know who he really is & what he’s really about. It’s not their fault.”
Cheung called the fmr ofcl a “coward” for speaking anonymously. [classy. But bullying & pushing an #ArlingtonNationalCemetery employee trying to enforce the #law is courageous to #Trump #campaign staff]#disrespect #military #ServiceMembers #veterans #USpol
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FYI This was a WRITTEN statement by #ChrisLaCivita, besides insulting the #ArlingtonNationalCemetery employee by calling her “a despicable individual” who “does not deserve to represent the hollowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery” — either the idiot can’t spell “hallowed” or doesn’t know what it means. Maybe he thinks because graves are holes that the earth was “hollowed”— & they want to eliminate the dept of #education️
#Trump #idiocracy #AVeryStableGenius #TrumpLovesThePoorlyEducated
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+ nitpicking #ChrisLaCivita’s poor grammar
“…spreading these lies are dishonoring…” is also incorrect.
It should be “…spreading these lies is dishonoring…”
f⁕︎ing morons.
#Trump #idiocracy #AVeryStableGenius #TrumpLovesThePoorlyEducated
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@MarkAB @Nonilex Let's be honest here (not that I support Trump at all) and note that the "federal law" being cited everywhere is actually the Hatch Act which TrumpWorld ignored during his administration. Arlington policy and procedures are what prevents partisan activity in the cemetery, not a specific statute, and it's their interpretation of the Hatch Act that informs those policies. The policies and procedures should be followed, but they don't have the force of a specific statute.
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#Army defends #Arlington Cemetery staffer ‘pushed aside’ by #Trump aides
The employee decided not to press charges, & the service considers the matter closed, ofcls said.The Army on Thurs defended a staff member at #ArlingtonNationalCemetery who found herself in a brief confrontation w/2 men working for the Trump campaign, saying in a statement that she “acted with professionalism” during the encounter & that her reputation has been “unfairly attacked” by Trump’s reps.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/08/29/trump-arlington-cemetery-altercation/ -
The #woman, whom #Army ofcls have requested remain unidentified because of concerns for her #safety, sought to restrict photography by the #Trump campaign in accordance w/ federal regulations [#law] barring #partisan activity at the #cemetery, the final resting place of >400k US troops, #veterans & family members.
#ArlingtonNationalCemetery #disrespect #military #ServiceMembers #veterans #USpol #HarrisWalz2024
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The confrontation prompted the woman to file a report w/ #law enforcement, but officials said she later decided not to press charges. “Therefore,” the statement says, “the #Army considers this matter closed.”
…After news of the incident was first reported…, #Trump campaign spox #StevenCheung alleged w/o evidence that the #ArlingtonNationalCemetery employee had suffered a “mental health episode,” & Trump co-campaign manager #ChrisLaCivita called her a “despicable individual.”
#HarrisWalz2024 -
Actually the law is specific to the military & cemeteries. It’s not the Hatch Act.
It is 32 CFR § 553.32 - Conduct of memorial services & ceremonies.
#Trump #law #Arlington #ArlingtonNationalCemetery
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/32/553.32 -
“All memorial services & ceremonies within Army National Military Cemeteries, other than official ceremonies, shall be purely memorial in purpose,” it says.
It adds: “Memorial services & ceremonies at Army National Military Cemeteries will not include partisan political activities.”