The family who invited Donald Trump to Arlington National Cemetery on Monday was “happy to welcome him,” mother-in-law of a dead soldier Christy Shamblin told CNN on Saturday. Shamblin added that Trump accompanied the family to Section 60 of the graveyard “at our request to spend time with our loved ones.”
“There was not a press presence there,” Shamblin continued. “We privately took pictures among ourselves and it was, you know, a more celebratory feeling for that day. Because we want to celebrate our loved ones, and it’s very hard to find ways to do that at, you know, at a cemetery, but they were very respectful.”
Shamblin also said the families extended an invitation to the Biden-Harris administration, “and we didn’t hear back from the White House.” NBC reports that representatives for both Biden and Harris have denied being invited to Arlington National Cemetery by Gold Star families last week.
When asked by conservative host Michael Smerconish (a former Republican) if it was appropriate for Trump to share footage from the visit in a campaign video on TikTok, Shamblin admitted she doesn’t use the social video app but insisted that “there’s no political campaigning that was done at Section 60 that day.”
After Smerconish pushed her again on the topic, Shamblin added, “I just have to go back to, we really just want our kids to be remembered and honored, and it’s unfortunate that we can’t get that, you know, in other ways. So we support President Trump and he’s supported us.”
On Tuesday, Arlington released a statement about Trump’s visit that made it clear the trip violated the law. “Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign,” the statement read.
“Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”
As reported by the Washington Post, the law in question is 32 CFR § 553.32, which states, “The Executive Director shall ensure the sanctity of public and private memorial and ceremonial events.”
The law also dictates, “All memorial services and ceremonies within Army National Military Cemeteries, other than official ceremonies, shall be purely memorial in purpose and may be dedicated only to: The memory of all those interred, inurned, or memorialized in Army National Military Cemeteries; The memory of all those who died in the military service of the United States while serving during a particular conflict or while serving in a particular military unit or units; The memory of the individual or individuals to be interred, inurned, or memorialized at the particular site at which the service or ceremony is held.”
“Memorial services and ceremonies at Army National Military Cemeteries will not include partisan political activities” and “Private memorial services may be closed to the media and public as determined by the decedent’s primary next of kin,” the law reads.
Trump appeared to share photos and video from the visit in a politically motivated way. Campaign aide Dan Scavino posted a video of Trump laying a wreath with Shamblin and other family members.
The video posted to Trump’s account on TikTok also shows Trump commenting, “And then they took over that disaster — the leaving of Afghanistan” with a caption that reads, “Should have never happened” — two factors that make the assertion that the video and visit had no political motivation difficult to maintain at best. The comments and the caption appeared to refer to the widely criticized withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan under the Biden administration.
Also on Saturday, Trump shared a series of videos from parents of American troops killed in action on Truth Social. Each of the parents, a list that includes Shamblin, offers their support for Trump’s actions at Arlington — despite the apparent lawlessness therein.
Shamblin was an invited guest and speaker at the Republican National Convention this year. She spoke about her daughter-in-la Nicole Gee, who was among the 13 Americans and 60 Afghans killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan in August 2021.
The mother-in-law said that Trump “allowed us to remember our heroes” and added, “Donald Trump knew all of our children’s names, and he spoke to us in a way that made us feel understood.”
Some Republicans have said President Biden’s decision to remove troops from the country was politically motivated, but the Trump administration negotiated the withdrawal agreement in February 2020. The original agreement stated troops would be removed from Afghanistan by May 2021, but the Trump administration did not lay out a plan for that removal before Trump left office in January 2021.
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