Vance says Harris can 'go to hell,' as Trump campaign disputes cemetery altercation reports

Donald Trump's running mate J.D. Vance said U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris could "go to hell," as he pushed back Wednesday on media reports of an alleged incident involving Trump's campaign staff and photo-taking at Arlington National Cemetery earlier this week.

"Apparently somebody at Arlington Cemetery, some staff member, had a little disagreement with somebody" and "the media has turned this into a national news story," Vance said Wednesday at a political rally in Erie, Pa., when asked about the incident said to have occurred when Trump visited the site to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony on Monday.

Trump's visit to Arlington has drawn controversy in its aftermath, after NPR reported Tuesday that two Trump campaign staff members "verbally abused and pushed" aside a cemetery official who tried to stop them from filming and photographing in Section 60, the burial site for military personnel killed while fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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And on Wednesday, a unnamed defence official told The Associated Press that the Trump campaign was warned about not taking photographs in Section 60 before their arrival and the altercation. Trump was at Arlington on Monday at the invitation of some of the families of the 13 service members who were killed in the Kabul airport bombing exactly three years prior.

When asked about the Arlington reports on Wednesday, Vance tried to focus on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling Harris "disgraceful" for not firing anyone for the deaths of service members in the 2021 attack. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

A Pentagon investigation into the deadly attack concluded that the suicide bomber acted alone and that the deaths of more than 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members were not preventable at the tactical level.

But critics have slammed the Biden administration for the catastrophic evacuation, saying it should have started earlier than it did.

"Kamala Harris is so asleep at the wheel that she won't even do an investigation into what happened, and she wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up," Vance said, before adding that Harris "can go to hell."

Limited comment from cemetery officials

Arlington National Cemetery said in a statement that "an incident" had occurred and a report had been filed, but it did not address details of what had happened. Cemetery officials also declined to share the report. 

"Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign," the cemetery officials' statement said. "Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants. We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed."

A cemetery spokesperson further told CBC News in an emailed statement on Wednesday that no further details were being shared, "to protect the identity of the individual involved."

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said the Republican presidential candidate's team was granted access to have a photographer. He contested the allegation that a campaign staffer pushed a cemetery official.

"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.

Chris LaCivita, a top Trump campaign adviser, noted that Trump was there at the invitation of the families of the service members who were killed in the airport bombing. The Trump campaign posted a message signed by relatives of two of the service members killed in the bombing that said, "The president and his team conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity for all of our service members, especially our beloved children."

"For a despicable individual to physically prevent President Trump's team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hollowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery," he said in a written statement, misspelling the word "hallowed."

Michael Tyler, a spokesperson for Harris, called the reports "pretty sad when it's all said and done."

"This is what we've come to expect from Donald Trump and his team," Tyler said on CNN. "Donald Trump is a person who wants to make everything all about Donald Trump. He's also somebody who has a history of demeaning and degrading military service members, those who have given the ultimate sacrifice."

U.S. rep calls for more information

Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia has called on cemetery officials to come forward publicly and release more information about what happened Monday.

"It's sad but all too expected that Donald Trump would desecrate this hallowed ground and put campaign politics ahead of honouring our heroes," he said. "His behaviour and that of his campaign is abhorrent and shameful."

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee for a third consecutive election, is aiming to return to the White House after four years out of the Oval Office. He lost the 2020 election to U.S. President Joe Biden.

The summer has seen many dramatic developments on the campaign trail, with Trump surviving an assassination attempt last month and soon after finding himself up against a new opponent in Harris.

Harris became the Democratic nominee after Biden withdrew from a re-election bid on July 21 amid pressure from donors and influential party members for him to drop out.

Trump picked Vance, a rookie U.S. senator, as his running mate in July. Harris announced this month that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz would run alongside her on the Democratic ticket.