Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance isn’t sorry he said Vice President Kamala Harris “can go to hell.”
Vance’s remark came after two staffers for former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign reportedly got into an “altercation” on Monday with an official at Arlington National Cemetery while trying to get pictures and video footage of Trump in a restricted area.
Trump had been attending an event at the cemetery honoring the 13 US military members who died in a bombing during the U.S.′ 2021 pullout from Afghanistan.
Although Harris had not yet spoken about the incident, Vance still went after her during an Erie, Pennsylvania, campaign event on Wednesday.
“If she wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up, she can go to hell,” he said.
In an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, Vance said his comment was simply “a colloquial phrase.” He said he hadn’t looked into the cemetery incident in-depth. However, he also added that he does not believe the Trump campaign should apologize to the cemetery official.
“The media and the Democrats have made a scandal out of something where there really is none,” he said. “I don’t know the details of the altercation between the photographer and somebody in Arlington, so I certainly want to understand better before I comment directly on that. But from what I’ve seen, the president was invited.”
The U.S. Army critiqued the Trump campaign over the cemetery incident, calling it out in a statement to media outlets on Thursday.
“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,” the statement said.
Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler told CNN on Wednesday that the conflict between the Trump campaigners and the cemetery official was “pretty sad.”
He added: “This is what we’ve come to expect from Donald Trump and his team. Donald Trump is a person who wants to make everything all about Donald Trump. He’s also somebody who has a history of demeaning and degrading military service members, those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.”
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