Trump’s shameful desecration
The rules are unequivocal. “Partisan activities are inappropriate in Arlington National Cemetery, due to its role as a shrine to all the honoured dead of the Armed Forces of the United States and out of respect for the men and women buried there and for their families.” That’s why you never see political candidates posing in Arlington Cemetery. That’s why you never see political ads that include Arlington as a backdrop. It’s understood that Arlington is hallowed ground, not to be exploited for scoring cheap political points.
Unless, of course, you’re Donald Trump. Trump went to Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) on Monday to pose for a photo op at a ceremony honouring the 13 Marines who were killed in the final days of America’s involvement in Afghanistan. It was the 3rd anniversary of their deaths. Trump posed for videos and photos with family members of one of the Marines, all the while mugging, grinning stupidly and — I’m not making this up — making a “thumbs up” for the cameras.
An ANC official went over to the group and politely asked them to stop filming and taking photos. Trump campaign officials yelled at the man and actually physically shoved him. Donald Trump, it appeared, needed to exploit heroic men who fell in combat — men he once referred to as “losers and suckers” — and desecrate their sacred resting places all for political chops. No ANC flunky was going to tell him otherwise.
Trump’s personal Luca Brasi and professional cretin, Steven Cheung, denies that any physical altercation took place, thereby calling the ANC employee a liar and adding insult to desecration. Cheung says he will produce a video of the incident to prove his allegation. Curiously, no such video was offered as a matter of course. Very unTrump-like.
Recall that Trump, who has never set foot on an active battlefield, once agreed to accept a Purple Heart at one of his rallies from a veteran. “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart,” Trump observed at the time, “this was much easier.” Presumably getting one without risk means you never have to face the peril of becoming a “loser” or a “sucker.”
While a student, Trump dodged the draft five times, once by bribing a medical doctor to write a report falsely claiming Trump had bone spurs. Trump’s contempt for the military was handed down to him by his father, multi-millionaire property mogul Fred Christ Trump. It’s a family tradition that only fools serve their country in the military.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t cosy up to them, exploit their solemn tragedies or wrongfully accept their medals. Meanwhile, in an act of supreme hypocrisy, Trump’s vice presidential candidate JD Vance has falsely accused Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz of “stolen valour.” Unlike Trump, Walz actually served 24 years in the military. He has never fired a weapon in anger, nor has he claimed to. The stolen valour claim is a fiction exploited to cast shame on Walz in the service of Trump, a draft-dodging piece of shit who thinks the military is for losers and suckers.
The preening, self-dealing dirtbag Trump has once again demonstrated beyind question what a loathsome villain he is. The lack of outrage from the mainstream media at his flagrant exploitation of a gold star family is shocking. After all, to tell the truth about this monster would diminish his chances in the election, and they need a horse race so they can boost their ratings.
If you’re in the news game, Trump is good for business. A Trump presidency would be even better. As a journalist I find that attitude despicable. Yet I can’t explain it any other way. The infamous history of Trump’s damage to American democracy cannot be written without including the shameful culpability of America’s mainstream media. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.