Meanwhile, Kamala and Democrats trying to smear Trump with report that photographer got into altercation with cemetery official during ceremony.
A Gold Star mother confirmed she invited former President Donald Trump to join the families of the 13 soldiers who died in Afghanistan during Joe Biden’s disastrous 2021 withdrawal.
Christy Shamblin, the mother-in-law of one of Sargeant Nicole Gee who rests at the Arlington Cemetery, told Jack Posobiec on Friday that Trump was “so respectful” during the Monday ceremony honoring the fallen soldiers.
“Our families invited President Trump to lay a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier with each of our three families…And he graciously accepted our invitation…it was beautiful, so respectful,” she recounted, adding Trump was attentive and listened to their stories.
Gold Star Mother Christy Shamblin tells @JackPosobiec: “Our families invited President Trump to lay a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier with each of our three families … And he graciously accepted our invitation … it was beautiful and respectful” pic.twitter.com/0a3AJZ61D3
— Human Events (@HumanEvents) August 30, 2024
“I have a lot of family that was able to attend as we always do on the anniversary of our loved one’s death and they were happy to have a picture with the President [Trump].”
Shamblin explained that the Gold Star families had also invited Biden and Kamala Harris to attend, but they “never heard back from them.”
“The fact is, we invited the current administration to Arlington and we never hear back from them…We just want our loved ones honored and respected, and we want this to never happen again,” she said.
Gold Star Mother Christy Shamblin tells @JackPosobiec: “We invited the current administration to Arlington and we never hear back from them … We just want our loved ones honored and respected” pic.twitter.com/HsygehIH5z
— Human Events (@HumanEvents) August 30, 2024
“Every time we’ve had an interaction with President Trump it’s at the invitation of both parties and we don’t get a response from one party,” she continued. “To ignore these heroes that died…cements that it’s going to happen again.”
“It would have been an opportunity for the Harris and Biden administration to show that they do respect our loved ones that were killed in action, but we haven’t had those responses from them at all,” she added.
Gold Star Mother Christy Shamblin tells @JackPosobiec: “It would have been an opportunity for the Harris and Biden administration to show that they do respect our loved ones that were killed in action, but we haven’t had those responses from them at all.” pic.twitter.com/b7URiyh8pG
— Human Events (@HumanEvents) August 30, 2024
Shamblin went on to express her dismay over the NPR report that a photographer with Trump’s campaign allegedly got into a spat with an Arlington official after trying to enter a restricted part of the cemetery.
“I’m just not sure why this has gone this way, it’s sad because it’s distracting. We should be celebrating the fact that the Commander-in-Chief was visiting fallen heroes, and instead we’re kind of focusing on what I think is a little bit of a made up story about a disrespectful appearance at Section 60,” she said.
Gold Star Mother Christy Shamblin to @JackPosobiec: “I didn’t see any altercations anywhere and it was a very small number of people that were at the graves with us. Very respectful.” pic.twitter.com/TLS44DtDqb
— Human Events (@HumanEvents) August 30, 2024
Mark Schmitz, Gold Star dad to Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, corroborated Shamblin’s comments, saying they’ve heard only “crickets” from Harris, while President Trump has been a “leader.”
“These families WANTED Trump [at Arlington National Cemetery] — and I’m glad that he was there,” he told Newsmax on Saturday.
Mark Schmitz, Gold Star dad to Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, says all they’ve heard is “crickets” from Kamala Harris, while President Trump has been a “leader.”
“These families WANTED Trump [at Arlington National Cemetery] — and I’m glad that he was there.” pic.twitter.com/n4RKAOkl6h
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 31, 2024
Meanwhile, Harris and the Democrats seized on the contrived story, accusing the Trump campaign of using the ceremony to play politics, with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) even calling for an investigation into the reported incident on Friday.
Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung denied there was any physical altercation “as described.”
“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 a statement.
Harris, who wasn’t present at the ceremony, put out a statement Saturday on X claiming Trump “disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt” before parroting the debunked “suckers and losers” talking point.
As Vice President, I have had the privilege of visiting Arlington National Cemetery several times. It is a solemn place; a place where we come together to honor American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of this nation.
It is not a place for politics.
And…
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 31, 2024
Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance hit back, noting he had the good grace of actually accepting the Gold Families’ invitation to attend the ceremony.
“President Trump was there at the invitation of families whose loved ones died because of your incompetence. Why don’t you get off social media and go launch an investigation into their unnecessary deaths?” he asked.
President Trump was there at the invitation of families whose loved ones died because of your incompetence.
Why don’t you get off social media and go launch an investigation into their unnecessary deaths? https://t.co/UC2jIGIfaE
— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 31, 2024
