'Sickening': Trump post spurs outrage — and new accusations that he broke the law
Donald Trump outraged veterans and legal experts Wednesday with a new social post that they say disrespects U.S. service members who died in the line of duty — and may have violated federal law.
Trump posted to TikTok a video montage of his visit Monday to Arlington National Cemetery, where he spurred outrage for a gravesite thumbs-up and possibly broke a law that restricts political campaign activity on military burial grounds.
Trump is filmed partaking in a wreath-laying ceremony on the third anniversary of a deadly attack that claimed 13 U.S. service members' lives amid the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
"We lost 13 great, great people," Trump says in a voiceover. "What a horrible day it was."
Trump does not mention President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris, his political opponent in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, but he appears to draw a comparison between his administration and theirs.
"We didn't lose one person in 18 months," Trump said. "And then they took over that disaster, the leaving of Afghanistan."
A link at the bottom of the post sends viewers to a 2024 Election Center and voter registration site hosted by TikTok and the nonpartisan nonprofit Democracy Works.
Trump posted the video to his @realdonaldtrump account, in which he claims the title of president and identifies himself as the 45th president of the United States.
The video does not include any disclosure messaging from Trump's campaign. It appears among videos that include Trump campaign events, criticisms of Harris and his campaign slogan "Make America Great Again."
It was shared on X Wednesday by VoteVets, a progressive political action group of U.S. war veterans that claimed Trump violated the law by posting the video publicly.
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"Trump is using footage and photos his campaign took at Arlington National Cemetary [sic] for political purposes -- against the rules and laws that govern this hallowed ground," the group wrote.
"This whole episode is sickening and affront to all those hundreds of thousands of families who never agreed to allow their deceased loved ones to be dragged into politics."
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung has responded to an NPR report that Arlington National Cemetery filed a report after campaign staff had a verbal and physical altercation with an official who tried to bar them from filming.
"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 said in the statement to NPR.
Cheung also shared a screenshot on X of what he says is official permission to film.
"Only former President Trump may have an official photographer and/or videographer outside of the main media pool," the screenshot reads.
This did not stop the Trump campaign from receiving an onslaught of criticism from political experts and stakeholders.
"It’s against the law to use images from Arlington National Cemetery for politics," Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett replied. "Someone should ask J.D. Vance today about his running mate breaking the law while using veterans as pawns."
"I don't know how much more plainly I can say it," Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal wrote. "This is outrageous."
Michael McDonald, a professor at the University of Florida who specializes in American elections, reminded readers of the conclusion of Trump's criminal hush money trial in New York City.
"Convicted felon breaks the law before his sentencing," McDonald wrote.
A police official told USA Today that no criminal charges regarding the Arlington vist have been filed.