Donald Trump disrespected sacred ground at Arlington cemetery, says Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris has blasted Donald Trump, saying he ‘disrespected sacred ground’ at Arlington National Cemetery during a contentious pre-election visit.

Donald Trump and staff in the contentious photo at Arlington cemetery.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has blasted Republican rival Donald Trump, saying he “disrespected sacred ground” at Arlington National Cemetery during a contentious pre-election visit.

Mr Trump’s presence at the hallowed military cemetery – intended to provide a campaign boost ahead of the November 5 vote – has instead mushroomed into a public dispute consuming the candidates and the military.

In Monday’s incident at the cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington, Mr Trump broke rules barring photography for political purposes, posing with relatives of US service members killed in Afghanistan in content that was later shared by his campaign on social media.

“Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt,” Ms Harris said.

In one image, he is standing with family members of a fallen marine, posing among headstones while grinning broadly and giving a thumbs up.

“If there is one thing on which we as Americans can all agree, it is that our veterans, military families, and service members should be honoured, never disparaged, and treated with nothing less than our highest respect and gratitude,” Ms Harris wrote on X.

On Thursday, the US Army ­issued a rare statement confirming that a cemetery staff member had been “abruptly pushed aside” after asking Mr Trump’s team to stop filming in a burial section for those killed in recent wars, where ­photography for political purposes is banned.

Mr Trump’s campaign team described the employee as a “despicable individual” and claimed she was suffering a mental health episode. The military said the staff member had “acted with professionalism” and it condemned the incident as “unfortunate”.  Mr Trump spoke at length at a rally on Friday night (Saturday AEST) about the cemetery incident and Afghanistan and said it was families of fallen troops who asked to have their picture taken with him.

“I said ‘Absolutely’. I don’t need publicity, I get a lot of publicity. I would like to get a lot less publicity,” he said.

Mr Trump blamed the White House for the criticism he is drawing: “Joe Biden killed those young people because he was incompetent. And then they tell me that I used their graves for public relations purposes. And I didn’t. And I’ll tell you what, it was a disgrace.”

Mr Trump’s relationship with the military has long spawned controversy. While often touting his support for the armed forces, he privately mocked the war dead while he was president and did not want to be seen near military amputees, according to his former chief of staff.

Ms Harris’s blunt response at the weekend appeared to underline her determination to take the fight directly to Mr Trump.

The former president has repeatedly mocked Ms Harris’s name, intelligence, appearance and racial identity, while the Harris campaign has replied that Mr Trump is “weird”, an aspiring dictator, and “out of his mind”.

Ms Harris earlier faced withering criticism over the cemetery incident from Mr Trump’s running mate, senator JD Vance.

Apparently responding to a mistaken report that Ms Harris had already reacted to the visit, Senator Vance accused her of feigning outrage and said “she can go to hell”.

“Don’t focus on Donald Trump showing up to grieve with some people who lost their children. Focus on your own job. Don’t do this fake outrage thing,” he later told The Washington Post.

At that point, Ms Harris had not publicly mentioned the ­cemetery visit.

AFP