Army confirms Arlington cemetery employee ‘pushed aside’ during Trump visit and calls incident ‘unfortunate’
The US Army, which owns Arlington national cemetery, said that an employee was “abruptly pushed aside” when trying to ensure Donald Trump’s entourage followed the rules during their visit on Monday, and called the incident “unfortunate”.
In a statement, an army spokesperson noted that the cemetery “routinely hosts public wreath laying ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for individuals and groups who submit requests in advance. ANC conducts nearly 3,000 such public ceremonies a year without incident.”
It then detailed what happened on Monday:
Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside. Consistent with the decorum expected at ANC, this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption. The incident was reported to the JBM-HH police department, but the employee subsequently decided not to press charges. Therefore, the Army considers this matter closed.
This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. ANC is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve.
Key events
JD Vance urges tech billionaire Peter Thiel to ‘get off the sidelines’ and help fund the Trump-Vance campaign – report
The Financial Times reported on Thursday that Vance made the plea in an interview with the outlet.
Vance reportedly told the Financial Times:
I’m going to keep on talking to Peter and persuading him that – you know he’s obviously been exhausted by politics a little bit – but he’s going to be really exhausted by politics if we lose and if Kamala Harris is president.
He is fundamentally a conservative guy, and I think that he needs to get off the sidelines and support the ticket.
This comes as last year, Thiel said that he was not planning on funding any 2024 races after he backed Trump in 2016. But, he said at the time, “there’s always a chance I might change my mind”.
JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential candidate and Ohio senator, spoke at the International Association of Fire Fighters convention in Boston earlier this afternoon.
Right as Vance was about to begin his speech, the vice-presidential hopeful was met with a mix of applause and boos from the crowd.
“Sounds like we’ve got some fans and some haters”, Vance said. “That’s OK. Let’s listen to what I have to say here and I’ll make my pitch.”
Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate and Governor of Minnesota, spoke at the same convention on Wednesday.
The day so far
The army has issued a rare statement rebuking Donald Trump’s campaign for their conduct at Arlington national cemetery earlier this week. It acknowledged that one of their employees was “pushed aside” during his visit in what it described as an “unfortunate” incident. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are set for their first interview since ascending to the top of the Democratic ticket, which CNN will air at 9pm tonight (though we may see excerpts earlier in the day). The pair are currently in south Georgia, as part of their strategy to limit losses in rural areas of a swing state that could be vital to their path to the White House. Late yesterday, a poll showed Harris drawing near even with Trump in the four Sun Belt swing states, including Georgia, while polling released today showed a similar dynamic in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Here’s what else has happened today so far:
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Trump shared a TikTok video of his visit to Arlington national cemetery, which may have violated federal law, NPR reports.
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The big question of the 10 September presidential debate appears to have been answered: microphones will be off when the candidates aren’t speaking, as Trump preferred, according to a copy of the rules obtained by the Associated Press.
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Democratic Senate candidates are holding their own against the GOP in key races nationwide, Emerson College found, though it did not poll the re-election prospects of Democratic senators in the red states Montana and Ohio.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will meet for the first time when they debate on 10 September.
But the two sides have been at odds in recent days over whether or not the candidates’ microphones would be on or off when it isn’t their turn to speak. Harris’s campaign wants them activated, but Trump appears to prefer them to be off – as they were during his June debate against Joe Biden.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the rules that debate host ABC News shared with the campaigns, which indicates that mics will be off, as Trump prefers. Here’s more:
Next month’s debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump won’t have an audience, live microphones when candidates aren’t speaking, or written notes, according to rules that ABC News, the host network, shared this week with both campaigns.
A copy of the rules was provided to the Associated Press on Thursday by a senior Trump campaign official on condition of anonymity ahead of the network’s announcement. The Harris campaign on Thursday insisted it was still discussing the muting of mics with ABC.
The parameters now in place for the Sept. 10 debate are essentially the same as they were for the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, a disastrous performance for the incumbent Democrat that fueled his exit from the campaign. It is the only debate that’s been firmly scheduled and could be the only time voters see Harris and Trump go head to head before the November general election.
The back-and-forth over the debate rules reached a fever pitch this week, particularly on the issue of whether the microphones would be muted between turns speaking.
Harris’ campaign had advocated for live microphones for the whole debate, saying in a statement that the practice would “fully allow for substantive exchanges between the candidates.”
Biden’s campaign had made microphone muting condition of his decision to accept any debates this year, a decision some aides now regret, saying voters were shielded from hearing Trump’s outbursts during the debate.
“It’s interesting that Trump’s handlers keep insisting on muting him, despite the candidate himself saying the opposite,” Harris spokesman Ian Sams said. “Why won’t they just do what the candidate wants?”
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will tape their interview with CNN in Savannah, Georgia, after spending yesterday on a bus tour of the swing state’s southern counties.
While most Democratic supporters these days are found in Georgia’s urban and suburban areas, Harris and Walz’s tour is part of a strategy to win at least some votes in GOP-leaning rural areas of the state.
Harris will cap off the swing with a solo rally in Savannah at 5.30pm today, though Walz won’t be in attendance. Their joint interview is scheduled to air on CNN at 9pm.
This evening, Kamala Harris will give her first sit-down interview since launching her presidential campaign, and will be joined by her running mate, Tim Walz. The Guardian’s Robert Tait takes a look at what we can expect from the hotly anticipated encounter:
Kamala Harris on Thursday will give her first major interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee in what is being seen as a key test of her credibility after a prolonged honeymoon that has seen her surge ahead of Donald Trump in opinion polls.
She and her running mate, Tim Walz, will face CNN’s Dana Bash in a pre-recorded event that was scheduled following some criticism of Harris’s reluctance to expose herself to media scrutiny following her ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket last month in place of Joe Biden, who withdrew from the race on 21 July.
The US vice-president, who has had a variable performance in past televised one-on-ones, had previously pledged to hold a major interview before the end of August.
The CNN date sees her make good on that pledge with two days to spare.
The terms of her engagement have drawn mockery from Republicans, who have accused Harris of being unwilling to risk a high-profile grilling without the protective presence of Walz, the Minnesota governor who has cultivated a plain-speaking, everyman image.
“Kamala needs to do a live, unedited, solo press conference,” Abigail Jackson, communications director for Josh Hawley, the rightwing Missouri senator, posted on X. “She wants to be commander-in-chief and she’s too scared to do an interview without Tim Walz by her side? Girl power, amirite.”
NPR reports that the Donald Trump campaign has shared a TikTok video of his visit to Arlington national cemetery, which may have violated federal law, since he did not have permission to film there:
The 21-second video shows Trump laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and several snippets of Trump joining Gold Star family members at gravesites of their loved ones in a part of the cemetery known as Section 60.
‘We lost 13 great great people, what a horrible day it was,’ Trump says over somber music. ‘We didn’t lose one person in 18 months and then they took over the disaster, the leaving of Afghanistan.’
But the Trump campaign was not authorized to film or photograph in Section 60, federal law prohibits the use of military cemeteries for campaign events and two campaign staffers got in a physical and verbal altercation with the Arlington staffer that tried to prevent the filming.
In a statement after NPR’s original story, family members present Monday said they invited Trump and gave approval for his photographer and videographer to document an emotional moment of remembrance.
Some of those family members also spoke at the Republican National Convention, bashing Biden and vocally endorsing Trump.
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Though the loved ones said they were OK with the cameras present, the families do not have the power to suspend the rules.
NPR has also learned the family of a Green Beret who died by suicide, whose headstone is visible in pictures and videos posted by the campaign, did not give permission to be included.
Army confirms Arlington cemetery employee ‘pushed aside’ during Trump visit and calls incident ‘unfortunate’
The US Army, which owns Arlington national cemetery, said that an employee was “abruptly pushed aside” when trying to ensure Donald Trump’s entourage followed the rules during their visit on Monday, and called the incident “unfortunate”.
In a statement, an army spokesperson noted that the cemetery “routinely hosts public wreath laying ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for individuals and groups who submit requests in advance. ANC conducts nearly 3,000 such public ceremonies a year without incident.”
It then detailed what happened on Monday:
Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside. Consistent with the decorum expected at ANC, this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption. The incident was reported to the JBM-HH police department, but the employee subsequently decided not to press charges. Therefore, the Army considers this matter closed.
This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. ANC is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve.
Speaking of polls, here’s another one from a GOP pollster and published by Semafor, of the three swing states in the Rust belt.
It shows Donald Trump with a slight edge over Kamala Harris in Michigan and Pennsylvania, but the vice-president leading in Wisconsin:
🟡 Exclusive in Semafor Principals: New battleground state polling shows tossups in three Rust Belt states.
Michigan
Harris 46%
Trump 48%Wisconsin
Harris 49%
Trump 45%Pennsylvania
Harris 46%
Trump 47%Via Pinpoint Policy Institute/Fabrizio Wardhttps://t.co/r6JGPMyVda pic.twitter.com/gPbG4Cf2dj
— Joseph Zeballos-Roig (@josephzeballos) August 29, 2024
With polls showing increasing support for Kamala Harris, the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports that Donald Trump’s campaign is betting on a strong debate performance to give him an edge over the vice-president:
Donald Trump’s campaign insists that they’re pursuing multiple strategies against Kamala Harris, but the true picture that is emerging is that the Trump senior advisers’ grand plan, for now, is to pray that the former US president has a good night at the presidential debate next month.
The game plan, in other words, has become one of hoping that Trump wins the debate so they can regain momentum – a stunning approach that shows the serious predicament for Trump and his campaign as he struggles to find ways to land effective attacks against the vice-president just months before the election.
What has happened internally in the Trump campaign in recent weeks is the realization that nothing they do in the period up to the debate is likely to cut through in a significant way that blunts Harris’s gains that have her level in key swing state polls, according to people close to the matter.
And because they don’t think the messaging will cut through, senior advisers are left hoping that Trump can energize voters with his performance on stage, the people said.
Trump is certain to continue his day-to-day campaign work until the debate on 10 September: he has a busy travel schedule that will see him do a town hall event in Wisconsin and a rally in Pennsylvania this week, after his visit to the Arlington national cemetery became mired in controversy.
Trump staffer ‘pushed’ Arlington cemetery official – report
MSNBC reports that a staffer from Donald Trump’s campaign pushed an employee of Arlington national cemetery out of the way so that he could take pictures and video during the former president’s visit to the Virginia burial grounds on Monday:
Breaking on @MSNBC: An employee at Arlington National Cemetery was pushed out of the way by a Trump official on Monday, according to two defense officials, so that the Trump official could take photos and video at Section 60 while Trump visited the cemetery.
Military police were…
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 29, 2024
Reports emerged earlier this week of an altercation during Trump’s visit to a section of the cemetery holding the bodies of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and where takings pictures is prohibited. The former president’s aides have said that they had permission to film and shoot photos there.
Here’s more on the brewing controversy:
Later today, Kamala Harris will do the first sit-down interview of her campaign with CNN, and be joined by her running mate, Tim Walz.
Donald Trump’s allies in the GOP rarely pass up an opportunity to criticize Harris, and are trying to make a scandal out of the vice-president’s decision to take questions alongside Walz.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that the first and ONLY interview from Kamala Harris – the anointed Democrat nominee for President of the United States – is done jointly with Tim Walz. It is offensive to ALL women that Kamala has refused to sit for a solo interview when she is running to be Commander-in-chief,” the high-ranking House Republican Elise Stefanik said in a statement.
In response, Politico reports that Harris’s campaign has compiled a long list of joint interviews done by presidential contenders over the past 20 years, and adding that the vice-president plans to do solo interviews in the weeks to come.
Another poll out today, this time from Emerson College, shows Democratic candidates leading in several swing state Senate races:
The party is facing a tough road to maintain their 51-seat majority in the chamber, which almost certainly hinges on Kamala Harris winning the White House, in addition to the re-election of senators from red states Ohio and Montana – races that Emerson did not poll.
Harris and Trump neck and neck in Sun belt swing states – poll
In more poll news, a Fox News survey released late yesterday has found Kamala Harris and Donald Trump practically tied for voter support in North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and Arizona, the four swing states located in the Sun belt.
The poll was conducted after the conclusion of the Democratic national convention last week, and after independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr ended his campaign and endorsed Trump. Here’s what it found:
The surveys, released Wednesday, find a close, two-way Harris-Trump race: Harris is up by 1 percentage point in Arizona and by 2 points in Georgia and Nevada, while Trump is ahead by 1 point in North Carolina. All are within the margin of sampling error.
In past Fox News surveys, Biden trailed Trump in each state: by 5 points in both Arizona and Nevada (June), by 6 in Georgia (April) and by 5 points in North Carolina (February).
The new surveys find Trump achieves his 2020 vote percentage in the head-to-head race in every state except Georgia, while Harris meets or exceeds Biden’s 2020 vote share across the states.
In 2020, Trump won North Carolina by just over 1 point, while Biden narrowly won the other three states (Arizona and Georgia by less than 1 point and Nevada by over 2 points).
Overall, in an average of the four states, Harris is ahead of Trump by a single point in the two-way match-up, 50% to 49%. That 1-point Harris edge also holds among the seven in 10 voters who say they are extremely motivated to cast a ballot this year.
Voter enthusiasm surges as Democrats cheer Harris’s entry into race, poll finds, ahead of vice-president’s first interview
Good morning, US politics blog readers. There’s no doubt that Kamala Harris’s candidacy has transformed the presidential race, with poll after poll showing her drawing even or overtaking Donald Trump in the support of voters nationally, and in the swing states expected to decide the election. Gallup reported this morning that enthusiasm among all voters has jumped in recent weeks, after Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket and chose the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, as her running mate. Among her party’s voters, enthusiasm has jumped to 78% from 55% in March, Gallup finds. Among adults overall, it’s up to 69%, from 54% over the same period – which Gallup notes is the highest level it has measured during a presidential election campaign. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Harris is poised for victory, since Gallup says overall enthusiasm came close to that level in 2004, a year when Democrats failed to retake the White House.
Today is shaping up to be a big one for both Harris and Walz. They are sitting down with CNN in the afternoon for their first joint interview since launching their candidacy, and after weeks of mounting questions over why neither one has had an in-depth talk with reporters. Their conversation airs at 9pm ET, but we can expect to see excerpts released before then.
Here’s what else is happening today:
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Harris is continuing her bus tour of south Georgia, and will hold a rally in Savannah at 5.30pm.
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The controversy is building over reports of an altercation between Donald Trump’s staffers and an official at Arlington national cemetery during his visit there this week. The former president’s campaign hasn’t helped matters by sharing video of their trip on TikTok.
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JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, will reportedly address a firefighters’s union convention today, after Walz spoke to them yesterday.
