Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) called Vice President Kamala Harris “disgraceful” on Wednesday for what he contended was an underwhelming response to the deadly Kabul airport bombing in 2021.
The swipe came as Vance, who is former President Donald Trump’s running mate, spoke during a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, about a reported dispute at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday.
Trump participated in a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the third anniversary of the Kabul airport bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members during the Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021.
But, according to NPR, members of Trump’s staff allegedly had a verbal and physical altercation with an official over whether they could themselves film or take photos in a zone for recent U.S. casualties.
Vance singled out Harris by name as he insisted the Biden administration has not done enough to make amends for the Kabul airport attack, which the Pentagon has attributed to a suicide bomber from ISIS-K.
“To have those 13 Americans lose their lives and not fire a single person is disgraceful. Kamala Harris is disgraceful,” Vance said, adding later that Harris has been “asleep at the wheel.”
He also blamed the media for turning a “little disagreement” at the cemetery into a “national news story” and insisted that veterans care more about Harris’ VP pick Tim Walz embellishing his military record.
NPR reported that Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump campaign, denied the notion of a physical altercation, saying, “We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made.”
He said a private photographer was “permitted on the premises” and an “unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members” of Trump’s team.
Arlington National Cemetery, which is located in Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C., released a statement that said it could “confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed” related to the dispute.
The statement also said federal law prohibits federal election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries and the cemetery “reinforced and widely shared this law” with participants.
In response to the story, a spokesman for Harris’ presidential campaign reportedly said to CNN that the alleged clash at the cemetery was “pretty sad,” but “not surprising coming from the Trump team.”
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), a Trump ally and the first Green Beret to serve in Congress, released a statement from Gold Star families who attended the ceremony on Monday, defending the former president.
Trump “and his team conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity for all of our service members, especially our beloved children,” the families said in the statement.
The families approved of Trump’s videographer and photographer attending, “ensuring these sacred moments of remembrance were respectfully captured and so we can cherish these memories forever.”
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