The Trump campaign, the 45th president and Gold Star families launched a scathing defense attack against Vice President Kamala Harris over Labor Day weekend, after the Democratic nominee claimed that Trump had "disrespected sacred ground" at Arlington National Cemetery.
"You should be ashamed and embarrassed [about] your lack of empathy and decency as a human being," Darren Hoover, the father of Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, said in a video shared by Trump and directed at Harris. "You are only in this for the power and prestige. You don't care for our military or the citizens of this country.
Hoover was one of eight Gold Star family members who recorded video messages published on Trump’s X account slamming Harris for claiming that Trump had "disrespected sacred ground" last week at Arlington National Cemetery on the anniversary of the Biden-Harris’s administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan that left 13 U.S. service members killed.
Trump joined Gold Star families at the national cemetery in Virginia last Monday for a wreath-laying ceremony to honor the 13 service members who were killed during the terrorist attack at Abbey Gate outside Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26, 2021.
Families of those who died said they had invited Trump to the public event, and also had approved a Trump campaign photographer to record the event, Fox News previously reported.
Following the event, media outlets such as NPR and the Associated Press reported that the photographer had recorded footage in a restricted area that prohibits political activity, with the U.S. Army adding that a cemetery staffer had been "abruptly pushed aside" during the event.
"Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside," the Army said in a statement.
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Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung argued that the staffer who had blocked the campaign photographers appeared to be having a "mental health episode." He also specified that the campaign had been granted approval to bring a photographer.
"The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and, for whatever reason, an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony," he said.
Harris was, meanwhile, conspicuously absent from any public events or memorial services to honor the service members, only issuing a statement Monday morning, while President Biden was in the midst of back-to-back vacations in California and then Delaware. Biden also released a White House statement last week honoring the service members killed.
The controversy over the Arlington cemetery visit intensified this weekend, when Harris posted an attack against Trump’s visit on Saturday.
"Donald Trump’s team chose to film a video there, resulting in an altercation with cemetery staff. Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt," she posted in part.
The post was soon followed by a cascade of messages from the Trump campaign, Trump supporters and Gold Star families slamming Harris for her comments on X, with the loved ones of those who died in Afghanistan shaming Harris for "playing politics" and blaming the Biden-Harris administration for the deaths of the 13 service members.
"Your administration killed my son," said Steve Nikoui, Father of Lance Corporal Kareem M. Nikoui, "you were not at Dover for the dignified transfer . . . not once have you honored him by saying his name."
"It’s been three years since my son was killed in action, and myself, my family and other Gold Star families have not seen any support from you or your administration," said Herman Lopez, father of Corporal Hunter Lopez.
"Why did we want Trump there? It wasn't to help his political campaign," Mark Schmitz, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, said in the video. "We wanted a leader. That explains why you and Joe didn't get a call."
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"In keeping with the reverence and respect that is given to all members of our military that are buried there, we invited President Trump," Hoover said. "We are the ones that asked for the video and the pictures to be taken at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier."
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Hoover also added that Trump has "been there for us from the very beginning," and criticized Harris for "playing politics" over the incident.
Trump published each video on his X account in quote posts responding to Harris.
Trump’s campaign also slammed Harris for the message, with Ohio. Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, asking Harris to turn her attention to opening an investigation into the 13 service member’s deaths instead of posting on social media.
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"President Trump was there at the invitation of families whose loved ones died because of your incompetence," Vance posted to X on Saturday. "Why don’t you get off social media and go launch an investigation into their unnecessary deaths?"
Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt added on X that "Kamala’s stupidity led to one of the most embarrassing events in American history and 13 brave US soldiers being killed."
"Kamala Harris bragged about being the last person in the room with Joe Biden when they decided on their terrible Afghanistan withdrawal plan," Leavitt posted. . . . She has never said their names. She has never reached out to their families. For this alone, Kamala does not deserve to be elected. Kamala has already proven that she would be a dangerously incompetent Commander in Chief."
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In addition to the deaths of the 13 U.S. service members defending the Kabul airport during the botched withdrawal, hundreds of Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan allies were left in the country under Taliban rule. Critics such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the withdrawal paved the way for adversaries such as Russia to invade Ukraine.
The Taliban ultimately claimed control of Afghanistan following the withdrawal.
Harris previously confirmed that she was the "last person in the room" with Biden before he made the decision to withdraw and also told the media that she was "comfortable" with the operation that ultimately turned deadly and chaotic.
Other commenters and supporters of Trump sounded off on Harris’ attack on social media, including pointing to how Biden was infamously photographed checking his watch on the tarmac of Dover Air Force Base during the dignified transfer of the soldiers when they arrived home in 2021.
The Gold Star families of those killed in Afghanistan railing against Biden and Harris for the botched and chaotic withdrawal, which included leaving an estimated $7 billion in military equipment in the Taliban’s hands, is not new. Loved ones of those killed three years ago have long sounded off that the Biden administration owes an apology to those who served, and some family members joined the RNC in Milwaukee in July, again slamming the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal.
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"Look at our faces. Look at our pain, and our heartbreak. And look at our rage. [The Afghanistan withdrawal] was not an extraordinary success," said Cheryl Juels, the aunt of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee. "Joe Biden owes the men and women who served in Afghanistan a debt of gratitude, and an apology."
"While Joe Biden has refused to recognize their sacrifice, Donald Trump spent six hours in Bedminster with us," said the mother-in-law of Nicole Gee at the RNC. "He allowed us to grieve, he allowed us to remember our heroes. Donald Trump knew all of our children’s names, he knew their stories, and he spoke to us in a way that made us feel understood, like he knew our kids."
The Harris campaign directed Fox News Digital to Harris' White House statement last week regarding the anniversary when asked for comment on the eight videos from Gold Star family members Sunday morning.
"Today and everyday, I mourn and honor them. My prayers are with their families and loved ones. My heart breaks for their pain and their loss. These 13 devoted patriots represent the best of America, putting our beloved nation and their fellow Americans above themselves and deploying into danger to keep their fellow citizens safe," Harris wrote in the statement. The statement included the names of each service member who was killed in 2021.
Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
