NEW YORK (AP) — The reported standoff at Arlington National Cemetery involving Donald Trump’s associates was not the first time that veterans or families of military personnel have criticized the former president for words or behavior they saw as derogatory.
Since his first run for the White House, Trump has picked fights with the military and veterans that no other major U.S. politician would engage in, dating back to 2015 when he rejected the military record of the late Sen. John McCain because McCain had been a prisoner of war. Trump’s allies say he supports the military but reserves the right to attack his critics.
“I think if you want to know how Donald Trump values and honors those who have served, and particularly those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, you can just talk to those families and they have a much better understanding of this issue than someone who holds a grudge against Donald Trump,” Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, Trump’s running mate, said on Monday.
Monday’s incident at Arlington National Cemetery came as the former president visited the graves of some of the 13 U.S. service members killed in the Kabul bombing during the U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan in 2021. The military says a cemetery official was “pushed aside” by Trump campaign staff when he tried to prevent them from filming and photographing in Section 60, the cemetery for military personnel killed in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Trump campaign later posted images of the visit on its social media accounts. The family of a decorated Green Beret whose grave was seen in the photos issued a statement expressing support for those who lost loved ones in Kabul but asking for understanding for the concerns of family members of service members whose graves were nearby.
Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story, but disputes the allegation that a campaign worker pushed a cemetery caretaker.
Jon Stoltz, a U.S. Army veteran and co-founder of the veterans advocacy group VoteVets, which is supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy, said Trump was trying to use a sacred site “for a political ceremony.”
“They have no right to do that to other veterans that are there,” Stoltz said.
The incident in Arlington came less than two weeks after Trump faced criticism for the way he spoke about the Congressional Medal of Honor, the military’s highest award for service members.
Trump praised Republican billionaire donor Miriam Adelson, whom he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, saying she fared “much better” than when she received the Congressional Medal of Honor, whose recipients are often seriously injured or dead.
Earlier this year, then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley condemned Trump for questioning her husband’s whereabouts while he was on a National Guard mission overseas.
His former chief of staff John Kelly, a retired general, claims that Trump called Americans who died in World War I “suckers” and “losers.” Trump has denied the claim.
In the past, Trump has had strong support from veterans, who tend to be reliable voters who support Republicans.
AP VoteCast found that about 6 in 10 military veterans said they voted for Trump in the 2020 election, as did just over half of those with a veteran in their household. About 60% of veteran voters in the 2020 election identified as Republican, and about half — 47% — identified as conservative.
A validated Pew Research Center voter survey found that a similar percentage of veterans supported Trump in 2016. And among voters in this year’s South Carolina Republican primary, AP VoteCast found that nearly two-thirds of military veterans and people in veteran households voted for Trump over Haley.
Trump has claimed he protected service members by pushing to end foreign wars like the two-decade conflict in Afghanistan. He has also taken credit — falsely — for pioneering a private health care program, Veterans Choice, originally enacted during the administration of former President Barack Obama.
Neither Trump nor Harris served in the military. Trump did receive several deferments during the Vietnam War, including one with a doctor’s note stating he had bony spurs in his feet.
Both parties have courted veterans. They have created veteran coalitions and are supported by outside groups focused on veterans issues. And both have chosen veterans as running mates.
Vance enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school and served for four years as a combat correspondent, a type of military journalist. In that role, he was deployed to Iraq in 2005.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, served a total of 24 years in various units and capacities in the Army National Guard, though the circumstances of his retirement prior to his unit’s deployment and various characterizations he has made of his time in the service have drawn criticism from Republicans — most notably Vance — and prompted Harris’ campaign to issue clarifications. The campaign has also promoted Walz’s service as a ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee during his time in Congress.
Stoltz, co-founder of VoteVets, said Trump’s reputation among veterans could be damaged by the former president’s repeated insults. But he believes it has a big impact on voters because Trump’s comments and actions could be perceived as insults to that community.
“I know there are veterans who support Trump,” he said. “He’s just motivated people against him.”
VoteVets offers a number of pro-Harris-Walz items on its website, including camouflaged yard signs. According to Stoltz, the group has sold 10,000 of them in recent weeks.
“People are starting to see the military as something that Trump wants to use for his own gain,” Stoltz said.
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Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina. Associated Press reporters Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.
