Vice President Kamala Harris came under fire recently from members of Gold Star families who accused the Democratic presidential candidate of politicizing Monday's incident at Arlington National Cemetery.
The message was posted on former President Trump's Instagram account. A total of eight videos were released, each showing the parents of a serviceman killed by IS-K terrorists on August 26, 2021, during the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
The video was released following a statement Saturday from Vice President Harris, who criticized Trump for taking a photo at Monday's wreath-laying ceremony. The Army said this week that an Arlington National Cemetery employee was “abruptly shoved away” while speaking with Trump's staff.
“As vice president, I have had the opportunity to visit Arlington National Cemetery several times,” Harris said. “It is not a place for politics. However, as reported this week, Donald Trump's team chose to hold a video shoot there, which led to an altercation with cemetery officials.”
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Kamala Harris was criticized by Gold Star families for statements she made about Trump on Saturday. (Getty Images)
“Let me be clear: the former president desecrated sacred ground for political stunts,” she argued, adding that she would “never politicize” such events.
Gold Star families maintained that they had asked Trump for their photos, rather than him taking them for a campaign event. In one video, Marine Corporal Jared Schmitz, the father of Harris' post, called it “vicious, vile and disgusting.”
“Why did you have Trump there? It wasn't to support his political campaign,” Mark Schmitz said in the video. “We wanted leaders. That's why you and Joe didn't get a call.”
Darren Huber, father of Marine Staff Sergeant Taylor Huber, said Harris lacked “empathy and a basic understanding” of Monday's events and stressed that Trump's appearance had been a show of respect.
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Vice President Kamala Harris slammed former President Donald Trump over last week's incident at Arlington National Cemetery. (Getty Images)
“Out of respect and reverence for all the military personnel buried there, we invited President Trump,” he said. “We were the ones who asked him to take a video and a photo at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.”
Mr Huber added that Mr Trump had “supported us from the beginning”, and accused Ms Harris of “playing politics” over the incident.
“You should be ashamed and embarrassed at your lack of human empathy and decency,” his father added. “You are in this job only for power and prestige. You don't care about our military or our people.”
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Glendale, Arizona. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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“You should be ashamed of your actions, or lack of them.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Harris' campaign for comment.
