Trump team downplays Arlington ‘incident' in an effort to minimize political fallout

Former President Donald Trump's campaign is playing down reports of an altercation during his visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, a move that signals its concern about potential political fallout from the incident.

“A nameless bureaucrat at Arlington whose job it is to preserve the dignity of the cemetery is doing the complete opposite in trying to make what was a very solemn and respectful event into something it was not,” said Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita, a retired Marine who was with Trump at the cemetery Monday.

Trump has long portrayed himself as a champion of service members and veterans — an image bolstered by participants in Monday's ceremony. But he has also created a pattern of disparaging service members that has led even some former aides to question the authenticity of his support for the military.

The latest episode threatens to blunt his attacks on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over a 2021 terrorist assault at the so-called Abbey Gate of the Kabul airport, which killed 13 American service members.

It was the third anniversary of the bombings, which occurred during the harried U.S. exit from Afghanistan, that took Trump to the Arlington burial ground, in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, on Monday. He laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to honor those who died in the bombings and then moved to Section 60, an area reserved for participants in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Trump was joined at both sites by family members of the men and women killed at Abbey Gate. The family members invited him to participate in the commemoration, and they wanted the moment to be documented, according to two people who were present.

"I gave my permission," Kelly Barnett, the mother of Marine Staff Sgt. Darin “Taylor” Hoover, told NBC News. "I wanted the memories. I wanted to make sure that my family at home — I have a huge family — I wanted to make sure that they were involved with it, as well, and they could see it and feel it, have the experience that we had. And so I said, yeah, in no uncertain terms, I was OK with it."

Trump posed for a photograph beside Hoover's grave, smiling and giving a thumbs-up gesture in a shot that included the headstones of other service members who were not part of Monday's ceremony.

A federal regulation admonishes that memorial services at Army cemeteries "will not include partisan political activities."

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There is no greater sacrifice than giving one’s life in defense of our country. It was my solemn privilege to stand alongside the family of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover at Arlington National Cemetery today as we paid tribute to his legacy and the 12 others who lost their lives… pic.twitter.com/tR6dhpMYsB

— Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox (@GovCox) August 26, 2024

NPR first reported Tuesday that two Trump campaign staffers had a confrontation with a cemetery official who tried to prevent them from filming.

"We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed," the cemetery said in a statement.

Whatever happened, Barnett and another participant — who asked to remain anonymous without authorization to speak for the families — said they noticed nothing amiss.

"We didn't even hear about it until the next day," the second participant said, who did not believe Trump's participation amounted to campaign activity.

"It wasn't politicized," this person said.

Trump posted video that included clips from Monday's ceremony to his TikTok account. In the video, he blamed Biden and Harris for the deaths at the Kabul airport.

Trump, like most Republican presidential candidates in recent decades, has won the majority of voters who have served in the military, according to exit polls. But his edge was smaller in his defeat in 2020 — 54% to 44% — than when he won that part of the electorate 61% to 34% in taking the presidency in 2016.

His aides have publicly dismissed the report of a physical interaction at the cemetery and accused Democrats of ignoring the anniversary, which is the most poignant reminder of a withdrawal that was politically damaging to Biden.

“They’re trying to muddle the fact that there was only one commander in chief in Arlington on Aug. 26," LaCivita said. He noted that Biden was on vacation and that Harris did not visit Arlington on the anniversary. Both of them issued statements. 

Neither Trump nor Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, served in uniform. Their running mates, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., did.

Harris' campaign declined to comment on the report of an altercation at Arlington, but its communications director, Michael Tyler, addressed it in a CNN interview Wednesday.

"Frankly, I think this episode is pretty sad when it’s all said and done," Tyler said. "Listen, this is what we’ve come to expect from Donald Trump and his team. Donald Trump is a person who wants to make everything all about Donald Trump. He’s also somebody who has a history of demeaning and degrading military service members, those who have given the ultimate sacrifice."

A Trump adviser who spoke with NBC News pointed to a statement signed by five Gold Star family members and two Purple Heart recipients who were with Trump on Monday defending him amid the firestorm. They said in the statement that they gave approval for Trump’s videographer and photographer to capture those moments so they could “cherish these memories forever.”

“Everything involved in the day was at their invitation,” this person said. “It wasn’t a campaign event. It was an event done by the families of these people, and they invited the commander-in-chief who has consistently demonstrated strong and unwavering support for them and all service members and their families.”

This person said that Trump was “grateful” for the invitation and that he would show “how committed he is when he’s back in the White House to ensure that the people who manufactured that insane and disastrous withdrawal are held accountable for it.”

The Trump campaign's handling of the episode after details leaked to the media raised some eyebrows among Republicans, particularly a statement in which communications director Steven Cheung said "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."

A Republican operative, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the statement "so unprofessional." A Trump ally, meanwhile, said the "behavior" outlined at the cemetery was "really out of character" for the campaign.

For years, Trump has faced accusations of showing disrespect to veterans and service members.

Early this year, he mocked the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for being unable to raise his arms because of injuries he sustained as a prisoner of war. In 2015, he also said McCain was not a "war hero" because "he was captured."

"I like people that weren't captured," he said at the time.

McCain, a veteran of the Vietnam War, gained national recognition for his time as a prisoner of war in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton," where he was tortured.

This cycle, Trump also questioned why Nikki Haley's husband was not with her on the campaign trail during the Republican primaries. Maj. Michael Haley was serving overseas at the time.

Just this month, Trump described the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is a civilian honor, as "much better" than the Medal of Honor, a military honor, because recipients of the latter are often deceased or severely injured.

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly said last year his former boss denigrated veterans and service members as "suckers" and "losers," confirming remarks that were published in The Atlantic years earlier. Trump has vehemently and repeatedly denied making such comments.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat and Army veteran, pointed to Trump's comments about the Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, adding that the episode at Arlington National Cemetery appeared to be a "continuation of something that I just find really problematic."

"There is this attacking of those with military service and this increasing politicization and disrespect for those who have chosen to serve this country," he said, adding that he still wanted to learn more details about what happened between Trump's staff and the cemetery official.

At their convention last week, Democrats took Trump to task over military issues, emphasizing a theme of patriotism. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that Trump "does not understand the service and sacrifice of our military" and that he was the only president since World War II who has not "honored our veterans and their sacrifices."

But for Republicans, the episode served to further shine a light on what they see as one of the Biden administration's biggest failings in Afghanistan, a key piece of their message on global instability over the past four years.

“The veterans that I talk to feel disrespected and disappointed, certainly at their commander in chief, in the direction of the United States militarily,” Pennsylvania state Rep. Rob Mercuri, a veteran and congressional candidate in the 17th District, which is a swing district with a large veteran population. “The only thing I would say about President Trump is that his plan is to project strength. My view is that the Reagan Doctrine of peace through strength is really important to come back to.”

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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Alex Seitz-Wald contributed.