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Something stinks here, and it smells like a cover-up. But not the kind of cover-up you think. As we now know, the media is driving a story about Donald Trump having an “altercation” at Arlington National Cemetery, when he was there at the invitation of some of the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families.
We now know several more details, such as the families had explicitly invited Trump and had given permission for the photographer, and that the Trump team had gotten permission from Arlington to have a photographer with him.
However, we are now learning that Arlington itself tried to keep the Gold Star Families from even organizing an event and inviting Donald Trump to begin with. And one has to ask, why? Don’t the wishes of the families carry any weight at Arlington, especially on the anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing?
The Gold Star families, who lost their children during the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, invited Trump to Arlington National Cemetery. There he laid a wreath for the 13 servicemembers who were killed serving their country in Afghanistan. However, a Gold Star family told the Caller that Arlington National Cemetery was trying to make it difficult for the former President to appear for the ceremony to honor their children, something the families requested.
Arlington National Cemetery told gold star families that they could only be there for a specific time that did not work for everyone’s schedule and were also told the president could not join them at their children’s gravesites, the family told the Caller.
How Arlington planned on keeping Donald Trump away from specific gravesites is unknown – and just plain stupid. It’s a national cemetery and open to the public! Why were cemetery officials making this difficult for the families? Why did it take the Speaker of the House getting involved??
Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Michael McCaul explained to the Caller that he was contacted by Gold Star parents Darin Hoover and Kelly Barnett, the parents of SSGT Taylor Hoover, who told him that Arlington Cemetery was giving them and some of the other parents of the U.S. servicemembers killed at Abbey Gate a hard time about coordinating a ceremony with Trump on the anniversary of their deaths. The Caller is told that the Cemetery said they could only be there for a specific time that did not work for everyone’s schedule and were also told the president could not join them at their children’s gravesites. McCaul immediately reached out to Johnson to ask for his assistance with the matter and the Caller is told he continued to track it until it was fixed.
“When Darin and Kelly contacted me, I was furious to hear their request to have President Trump join them to commemorate the anniversary of Taylor’s death was being stymied, along with several of the other family members of U.S. servicemembers killed at Abbey Gate. I immediately asked what I could do to help and reached out to Speaker Johnson to see what he could do. Thankfully, Speaker Johnson and his team acted quickly and were able to get the situation resolved. But something like this should never have happened. Gold Star families have already suffered enough,” McCaul told the Caller.
California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa has called on Biden to meet with these Gold Star families on multiple occasions, his office told the Caller. He was present for the ceremonies on Monday and had been in contact with Arlington National Cemetery leading up to the anniversary, his office said.
“This administration absolutely interfered with the tributes to the 13 fallen. In its war on Trump, it made the Gold Star families collateral damage,” Issa told the Caller.
“Our office worked with Arlington National Cemetery to move the time of the event, to a time that would accommodate the attendance of President Trump. That was done as a request by the families to this office, as they were not receiving that assistance from Arlington National Cemetery,” two sources close to the discussions told the Caller.
After the Speaker’s call, the situation shifted significantly. It was only three days before the ceremonies, and Arlington National Cemetery waited until the last minute to confirm key components of the event with the families.”
“Arlington Cemetery officials claimed the families didn’t want any media, photography, or videography at Section 60, contradicting what the families had actually requested. The families were fine with the media, designated by the Trump team, but Arlington kept pushing back, obstructing the process,” the source continued. “This would have not happened without Speaker Johnson.”
Why did Arlington management do this? What was the point? It’s a national cemetery where a great many of our honored dead have been laid to rest for over 160 years. But because the deaths of these servicemembers are politically radioactive for the current administration – and that stink is starting to cling to the current vice president – cemetery officials decided to be huge jackasses to the Gold Star Families who, after three years, are still begging for recognition, answers, and accountability???
The reason this is an issue Trump can seize on is that after that disaster, the Biden-Harris admin tried to whitewash the failures that day and then shamefully ignored the families who paid the price for those failures. https://t.co/xPOGgXE4s0 pic.twitter.com/T68MU7BOAW
— AG (@AGHamilton29) August 28, 2024
And the media are now trying to drive a different angle. Since the Gold Star Families have come to Trump’s defense, the media suck-ups – who didn’t give a damn about these 13 men and women before their families gave the Biden administration a right hook across the face – are now claiming that Trump didn’t get permission from EVERY FAMILY of a loved one buried RIGHT THERE to take pictures. No, I’m not kidding. Maggie Haberman, the New York Times reporter who has a strong love-hate relationship with Donald Trump (she hates him, but loves the access that he gives her occasionally, which allowed her to write a book on him), actually contacted the family of one Green Beret buried nearby in order to get a statement.
Sergeant Marckesano died on July 7, 2020, after moving to Washington to begin a job at the Pentagon. He had three children, and friends said he had chronic post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in combat. He earned Silver and Bronze Stars during his service. His gravesite is adjacent to that of Staff Sergeant Darin Taylor Hoover, a Marine who was killed in the 2021 bombing at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.
The Hoover family granted permission to the Trump team to film and take photographs at the gravesite; the Marckesano family did not, and filming and photographing at the gravesite for political purposes is a violation of federal law, according to cemetery officials. Yet Sergeant Marckesano’s grave was shown in photos from the visit that were published online. A video was posted to Mr. Trump’s TikTok account featuring footage from the Section 60 visit and the gravestones from behind, with narration criticizing the handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
In a statement from Sergeant Marckesano’s relatives after being contacted by The New York Times, his sister, Michele, said, “We fully support Staff Sergeant Darin Hoover’s family and the other families in their quest for answers and accountability regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal and the tragedy at Abbey Gate.”
“However,” she added, “according to our conversation with Arlington National Cemetery, the Trump campaign staffers did not adhere to the rules that were set in place for this visit to Staff Sergeant Hoover’s gravesite in Section 60, which lays directly next to my brother’s grave.”
Note that the family put out a statement AFTER BEING CONTACTED BY THE PAPER. Haberman is one of three names on the byline, and she pushed this article out on her Twitter/X feed. This story is a media creation, but it’s what they’re going to run with now. According to media weasel Chris Hayes, Trump should have gotten permission from every single family.
“It is true Trump was invited—but he was not invited by all the families of all the 400,000 veterans and dependents that are buried at Arlington who did not and cannot consent to be used as props and a backdrop,” says @chrislhayes on Trump campaigning at Arlington Cemetery. pic.twitter.com/0a3EAhikQe
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) August 29, 2024
Um, hey, can we get a comment on these pictures? Maggie? Chris?
Fuck you so much Maggie…. pic.twitter.com/C3iZmKZyNi
— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) August 29, 2024
Did either Biden or Obama get permission from ALL THE FAMILIES for these official pictures? No, of course not, it’s (D)ifferent when they do it!
This entire Arlington story has been completely driven by the media, trying to cover for the Biden-Harris administration. And J.D. Vance was having none of it.
Trump visited part of the cemetery known as Section 60, where veterans of the post-9/11 conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are laid to rest. While there, an interaction occurred between Trump campaign staff and a cemetery official, according to multiple sources. The dispute appears to be over whether the Trump campaign’s photographer had permission to be there.
“Three years ago, 13 brave, innocent Americans died, and they died because Kamala Harris refused to do her job, and there hasn’t been a single investigation or a single firing,” Vance, Trump’s running mate, said in response to a CBS News reporter’s question about the interaction at Arlington National Cemetery while he campaigned in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Vance called Harris “disgraceful” and said the narrative should be that “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.”
“She can go to hell,” he said.
The media is well and truly stuck. They are trying to drive this Arlington story on their own with some truly epic stretches, and now the Republican vice presidential candidate just told their coronated kween to “go to hell.” I can’t wait for the media’s questions to Kamala Harris, breathlessly waiting for her response to this BIG MEAN NASTY ATTACK from J.D. Vance! Oh wait. She doesn’t take questions. And they’ll never dare ask her a question about Afghanistan, which could be turned into a soundbite to be used against her. J.D. Vance may have just been able to tell Kamala Harris to go to hell, and the media can’t protect her from it or ask her about it.
The entire Arlington story, and the continued additions, has been cooked by the media solely to deflect from the Biden-Harris administration’s failures in Afghanistan. This was never about Donald Trump. It was all about keeping the Gold Star Families from embarrassing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Arlington National Cemetery got political when they denied the Gold Star Families the help and accommodation they requested, and THAT is shameful beyond words.
Featured image: entrance sign to Arlington National Cemetery at the Fort Myer Gate, personal photo taken in April 2014 by Deanna Fisher, all rights reserved
Cameron says: Now waiting for A Reader to chime in with his ignorance.
A reader says: Facts aren’t ignorance.
Trump violated Federal Code CFR § 553.32(c), that states that memorial services can’t be used for partisan politics. He literally used video of his visit in a campaign ad on TikTok. It’s pretty clear. You can look up the code yourself if you’re so inclined. From what I understand, they aren’t supposed have private photographers anyways, particularly in section 60, but I haven’t been able to find clear documentation on that yet.
Arlington issued a statement today backing up NPR’s reporting. And a family member with a loved one in an adjacent gravesite has also expressed their anger at Trump including their family member’s grave in one of photos. Does that not matter? I’m guessing not by the reactions here. Obviously the other families with loved ones buried there aren’t important. Who’s playing politics exactly?
The rules are there for a reason and they apply to everyone. Trump’s team has thus far not offered any physical proof or documentation that they were given access. Nor is it clear that such access would ever be granted given the Federal regulation.
And families cannot override the regulations. The regulations are there for everyone. So whether Trump got permission from the families is irrelevant. They don’t own the whole graveyard or manage it. It’s fine that they think he behaved respectfully and they appreciated him being there. He still apparently violated a regulation and other families felt disrespected. His team also assaulted an Arlington staff member.
If you had a family member buried in a graveyard would you appreciate another family ignoring the rules of the graveyard? I’d suspect not. It’s the same here. The rules apply to everyone.
I just love how you’re assuming I’m lying when I’ve literally provided the actual facts in my other comments. Maybe reading and research aren’t so bad? Facts don’t care about your feelings and all that, right?
Que says: Actually, you don’t have all the facts either. At this point it looks like it’s a standoff as to which party is correct regarding what permissions were or were not provided.
Maybe you ought to read and research news sites which simply report facts, instead of the leftwing BS you apparently consume.
https://san.com/cc/what-does-federal-law-say-about-partisan-politics-at-arlington-national-cemetery/
SFC D says: Cool story, bro. Now you can explain the purpose of Biden’s photo op, the one of him strolling through the gravesites. We can absolutely remove anything referring to him “paying his respects”, because ae has no respect for the military, the nation, or anything that doesn’t involve 10% for the big guy.
You may go now.
Cameron says: You get rebutted every single time you post here and you slink off like a cur.
Cameron says: And of course, when Biden did a photo op at the same location, you seem oddly quiet.
https://x.com/greg_price11/status/1829187409164071102
The only standards you have are double standards and we all know it.
Que says: Last night Geraldo Rivera appeared on Leland Vittert’s program at News Nation, bloviating how the appearance of Trump was “shameful … unheard of … horrible.”
Vittert countered that the Gold Star families posted at X expressing their thanks that Trump was there, saying that he and his team handled themselves with “utmost dignity.”
He then followed with this: “I wonder how it is the media thinks they know better than the Gold Star families?”
Mic drop. Rivera answered, “I, I, I can’t answer that …”
rbj1 says: Leland is former Fox, and I thought he swung a bit to the left, so good on him putting Jerry Rivers in his place.
Of course they’re playing politics with it, every institution associated with .gov has been corrupted by politics. They’re no longer in the business of doing they job their particular organization was created for. They’re there to make the ‘right’ political hacks look good in the captured press.
A reader says: Also, when it’s an official Army photographer— as the one of the Obama’s is— then it’s ok. A photo of an official ceremony is ok. Unofficial photos used for political ads are not. Why is this so hard to understand?
Who’s playing politics exactly?
I’m sure the other families would have loved to be kept out of this. But since their loved ones names are clearly in the political ad, they can’t. So who is being disrespectful and political exactly?
Also, from what I understand, section 60 has different rules regarding visitation and whatnot. Maybe ask a veteran? Those are recent dead from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s not like the WWII or WWI dead. I’m sure if you bothered to look this up you could find the info but it probably won’t support your narrative. We also don’t know what was said about Trump’s visit? Maybe the political ad info came up in the negotiations?
Face it, this looks really bad. There are definitely veterans and fallen soldiers families who are outraged by this. The army should never be used to play politics. And yet, here we are.
rbj1 says: What ads? I have not seen any trump ads. But keep pushing this so that we can all remember that /Trump went to console these families while China Joe* and Kamala stayed away.
Que says: You know what’s the worst of all? That 13 souls would still be alive today had not Joe Biden decided to pull out of Afghanistan despite the counsel of military experts. Despite the fact that September was entering fighting season for Afghan Islamists. But Joe had to have his 9/11 anniversary “victory.”
Deal with it.
As one of my more blunt acquaintances would say: “What an iggerant idjit!”
Sorry, “reader” – UPI is not part of the Army. They are part of the State Ministry for Propaganda – but that’s a different group.
They certainly weren’t all that respectful of the four soldiers whose gravestones in Section 60 were shown in their photo. Or were they sure that all of them were Obama supporters? (In life, that is – I’m sure they’re rock solid Democrat voters now.)
Cameron says: And yet you were silent when Joe checked his watch while the bodies of those thirteen people were offloaded at Dover. You have said nothing about the fact that Biden and Harris could not be bothered to meet with the families of those thirteen people.
draigh says: So now anyone visiting a gravesite needs to get permission from the next of kin of EVERY fallen hero buried at Arlington? That seems to be what Chris Hayes, et. al., are telling us.
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