In Trump statement, Gold Star families defend Arlington visit

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday published a statement from several Gold Star families thanking him for appearing at Arlington National Cemetery last week. Trump appeared at a ceremony commemorating 13 members of the U.S. military who died three years ago in a suicide bombing at an airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Gold Star families said in the statement Trump released that they’d asked the former president to appear at the ceremony last week. On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris accused Trump of disrespecting cemetery grounds by making his appearance at the ceremony into a prop for his campaign.

What sparked an altercation? The U.S. Army confirmed to WORLD last week an Aug. 26 altercation at the cemetery. A cemetery employee was pushed aside when she tried to make sure people followed cemetery rules about staging political events in a certain area, the Army spokesman said. The spokesman did not identify anyone else involved in the altercation. Because the employee was not pressing charges, the Army considered the matter to be closed, the spokesman told WORLD.

Dig deeper: Read my report from last week about the altercation surrounding Trump’s appearance at the ceremony.