Vance tells Harris to 'go to hell' for bashing Trump on Arlington 'altercation' despite being ex-Marine

ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA: Republican vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance said that Vice President Kamala Harris “can go to hell” if she wished to politicize a supposed "altercation" involving the Trump campaign at Arlington National Cemetery.

Tensions arose during a ceremony honoring the 13 US servicemembers who died during the botched Afghanistan exit of 2021.

JD Vance responds to Arlington National Cemetery incident

The controversy began when Donald Trump's campaign reportedly clashed with a cemetery official at Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 60, where military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq are buried.

The official reportedly tried to prevent the campaign staff from filming and taking photographs in the area, leading to what was described by some as an “altercation.”

Michael Tyler, a spokesperson for Harris, later described the incident in an interview with CNN as “pretty sad” and “not surprising."

When asked about the incident at a campaign event in Erie, Vance, who is a Marine veteran himself, did not hold back. He lashed out at Harris and the Democrats—saying that if they intended to use the Arlington Cemetery episode to knock Trump, Harris “can go to hell.”

Vance blasted Harris further for not holding anyone accountable for the Afghanistan withdrawal. “The other thing that our veterans care more about is that three years ago, 13 brave innocent Americans died. And they died because Kamala Harris refused to do her job and there hasn’t been a single investigation or a single firing,” he said.

“Kamala Harris is disgraceful. We want to talk about a story out of those 13 brave innocent Americans who lost their lives? It’s that Kamala Harris is so asleep at the wheel that she won’t even do an investigation into what happened. And she wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up?” Vance asked, before declaring, “She can go to hell.”

Vance also argued that the incident at Arlington National Cemetery was blown out of proportion by the media. “The altercation at Arlington cemetery is the media creating a story where I really don’t think that there is one,” he said.

He explained that Gold Star families who lost loved ones in Afghanistan and Iraq wanted Trump to be present and that the event was not an “insult” to the memories of the fallen servicemembers. 

According to Vance, the cemetery staff member only had a “little disagreement” with a Trump campaign member, but the media sensationalized it into a “national news story.”

Conflicting reports of the incident

Conflicting accounts have surfaced regarding what exactly went down at Arlington. On Tuesday, August 27, NPR reported that two Trump campaign staffers “verbally abused and pushed” a cemetery official who tried to stop them from filming and taking photographs while Trump was participating in a wreath-laying ceremony.

An Arlington National Cemetery spokesperson confirmed that an “incident” had occurred, noting that “a report has been filed” and that “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 Trump campaign, however, disputed these claims. Communications director Steven Cheung said that the individual who confronted the campaign was “suffering from a mental health episode” and denied that any physical altercation took place as reported.

Darin Hoover—father of Marine Staff Sgt Taylor Hoover who was killed in Afghanistan—sided with the Trump campaign. 

“We are the ones that invited Trump. He didn’t invite himself,” Hoover told the New York Post in a phone interview on Wednesday. “We invited him because we knew that he had our backs, he supports us. He cares about us."

“While I was there, I didn’t witness any, any physical altercation or anything like that. And quite frankly, the Arlington staff is lying. I mean, it’s just, it’s a flat-out lie,” Hoover insisted.

“We wanted the pictures to memorialize, you know, what President Trump had said and done and … that moment where he’s paying his respects to our children."

Hoover went further to criticize the Biden-Harris administration. “The current administration wants to sweep it under the rug and make sure it stays buried,” he said, adding that Trump’s support is “a far cry more than what the current administration has done — which is absolutely nothing.”

JD Vance shredded online for dismissing reports of altercation

On the other hand, critics on social media tore into JD Vance after he dismissed reports of an altercation at the cemetery.

"It is disgraceful that Trump did this, but for Vance to defend it, is reprehensible," one posted on X.

"He's adapting well to the lies," a second user wrote.

"He is a disgrace to the uniform he once wore," another fumed.

"JDVance has shown that he’ll say anything as long as he thinks it’s expedient," someone else insisted.

"JD Vance is going to do whatever Trump tells him to do, period. If Trump wants JD to burn the flag at the Lincoln Memorial, he'd ask what lighter fluid to use. It's why he was chosen. The man has no character, no principle whatsoever," read a comment.

"Make them pay at the polls," another chimed in.

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