Donald Trump’s former communication director bashed the former president’s “despicable” behavior amid reports that his campaign staff got into a disagreement with Arlington National Cemetery officials during a wreath-laying ceremony earlier this week.
Trump’s campaign has repeatedly downplayed reports that two of his staffers got into a physical altercation with a cemetery official on Monday during a ceremony to honor the American soldiers killed in the August 26, 2021, suicide bombing at the Kabul airport amid the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
NPR first reported on Tuesday that members of the former president’s team “verbally abused and pushed” a cemetery official who was trying to stop them from photographing inside Section 60 during the ceremony. A spokesperson for the U.S. Army released a statement on Thursday confirming that a cemetery official was “abruptly pushed aside” while attempting to “ensure adherence” to federal rules that prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds, according to the Associated Press (AP).
“This is a violation of norms, and this is something that Mr. Trump has been doing for the last nine years,” Anthony Scaramucci, who served as Trump’s White House communications director, said during an appearance on CNN Thursday afternoon.
“We’re talking about it, [and] he enjoys the fact that we’re talking about it,” Scaramucci continued. “Airtime is being taken up on other networks talking about this. And look, it’s absolutely wrong. It’s a despicable way to handle things. But he likes the attention associated with it, and he was there for that photo op.”
Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office on August 20, 2024, in Howell, Michigan. Trump’s former communications director bashed his behavior amid reports that some of the former president’s campaign staff got into an altercation with an Arlington National Cemetery official earlier this week.
Nic Antaya/Getty Images
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s campaign for comment.
The Arlington National Cemetery released a statement earlier this week saying that there had been an incident involving members of Trump’s team at the wreath-laying ceremony and explained that 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.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung previously told Newsweek in a statement “no physical altercation as described” and that the campaign was “prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made.”
“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,” Cheung added.
A defense official told AP on Wednesday that the Trump campaign was warned not to take photographs in Section 60 before they arrived at the ceremony.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, also downplayed reports about the altercation while speaking to reporters at a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, saying that he believed the “media” was “creating a story where I really don’t think that there is one.”
“There is verifiable evidence that the campaign was allowed to have a photographer there,” Vance said, adding later on,”It is amazing to me that you have, apparently somebody at Arlington Cemetery, some staff member had a little disagreement with somebody, and they have turned the media has turned this into a national news story.”
Trump was invited to attend the ceremony by some of the family members of the 13 American soldiers killed in the Kabul bombing. In a post to his Truth Social account Tuesday night, the former president shared a copy of a letter signed by family members of two of the slain servicemembers that said Trump and his staffers “conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity for all of our service members.”
“We are deeply grateful to the president for taking the time to honor our children and for standing alongside us in our grief, offering his unwavering support during such a difficult time,” the letter read.
