Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio), the Republican vice presidential candidate, responded sharply to Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, telling her she “can go to h—” if she intended to criticize former President Donald Trump for attending a ceremony commemorating the 13 servicemembers who perished during the Afghanistan withdrawal.
This remark followed reports of a confrontation between the Trump campaign and a cemetery official at Arlington National Cemetery, who attempted to prevent them from taking photos and videos in Section 60, the area designated for military personnel who died in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In a CNN interview, Harris’s spokesperson, Michael Tyler, described the incident as “pretty sad” and “not surprising.”
At a campaign event in Erie, Pa., Vance expressed his frustration over the incident when asked for his opinion. He retorted that if the Democratic presidential nominee wished to use the event to attack Trump, she “can go to hell.”
Vance then criticized Harris for her failure to hold anyone accountable for the withdrawal operation that occurred during her tenure.
“What veterans are really concerned about is that three years ago, 13 courageous American lives were lost. These lives were lost because Kamala Harris failed to do her job, and there has not been a single investigation or firing since then,” Vance said.
“Kamala Harris is disgraceful. If we want to discuss the story of those 13 brave Americans who lost their lives, it’s that Kamala Harris is so negligent that she won’t even initiate an investigation into the circumstances. And now she wants to criticize Donald Trump for attending?”
He repeated his assertion that Harris “can go to h—.”
Vance also argued that the media had blown the incident out of proportion.
“The altercation at Arlington cemetery is the media fabricating a story where I don’t think one truly exists,” Vance stated, adding that the Gold Star families had wanted Trump to attend and that the incident should not be considered an “insult” to the fallen servicemembers.
According to Vance, a disagreement with an Arlington National Cemetery staff member was misrepresented by the media as a “national news story.”
NPR reported on Tuesday that two Trump campaign staffers had “verbally abused and pushed” aside a cemetery official who tried to stop them from filming and photographing during Trump’s wreath-laying ceremony.
An Arlington National Cemetery spokesperson told The Post that there had been an “incident,” a “report has been filed,” and that “federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, including photographers, content creators, or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign.”
The Trump team has claimed that the staff member who confronted them about photography was “suffering from a mental health episode” and that there was “no physical altercation as described,” according to communications director Steven Cheung.
A Gold Star family member present at the cemetery with Trump supported the campaign’s account of the events and accused the cemetery staff of “lying.”
“We are the ones who invited Trump. He didn’t invite himself,” Darin Hoover, father of Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, told The Post in a phone interview on Wednesday.
“We invited him because we knew he was on our side, he supports us. He cares about us.
“During my time there, I didn’t see any physical altercation or anything of the sort. And frankly, the Arlington staff is lying. It’s just, it’s a flat-out lie,” Hoover asserted.
Hoover further explained that they wanted the photos to document “what President Trump had said and done and … that moment where he’s paying his respects to our children.”
The Gold Star family member also contrasted Trump’s support with the current administration’s approach, describing it as “a far cry more than what the current administration has done” — which he criticized as “absolutely nothing.”
“The current administration wants to sweep it under the rug and ensure it stays buried,” Hoover added.
At the Erie rally, attendees remarked on Vance’s military background and Marine veteran status as beneficial for the Republican ticket.
Gene Seip, 69, a business owner from Erie, noted that Vance was attracting “military people” among his supporters.
Chris Knight, 68, head cook at a school in Corry, Pa., brought a hard copy of Vance’s memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” and expressed her admiration for the senator, not just Trump.
Vance is “adding to the veterans,” she said, emphasizing the importance of keeping military personnel at home unless absolutely necessary.
{Matzav.com}