The armed forces want to remain above politics. In the U.S. too, federal law prohibits political campaigning on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. But Donald Trump, former commander of the U.S. armed forces and present Republican candidate, thinks himself above the law. Trump is not the first candidate to run afoul of the ban on partisan activity in Arlington National Cemetery (ANC).
In November 1999, Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican and former prisoner of war in Vietnam who was widely considered a military hero, said that his newly launched presidential campaign had made “a very bad mistake.” McCain, who at the time was trailing far behind George W. Bush in the race for their party’s nomination, had produced a campaign ad highlighting his career as a navy pilot and his reverence for his fellow service members. At one moment, the ad showed McCain walking through ANC. The Army soon said that McCain’s campaign had never requested permission to film in the ANC.
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It was an incident in campaign politics that closely mirrored, before it sharply diverged from, another that took place last week. The statement from the Army is the first detailed description of an altercation that took place on Monday, as Trump appeared for a wreath-laying ceremony. The Army issued a rare public rebuke of Trump campaign officials for attacks they directed at a cemetery worker who had tried to stop the filming. The Trump campaign had been made aware that filming for campaign purposes was against Army regulations. Trump and his campaign published photos and videos of the former president laying flowers and flashing a thumbs-up at the graves of Marines killed during the withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago.
In McCain’s case, by contrast, the Senator quickly moved to cut the cemetery footage from his campaign ad. Other candidates involved in similar incidents often quickly removed the images of ANC. Kamala Harris has said the former president is “unable to comprehend anything other than service to himself.” This story only shows the high-handedness of Trump. It would be better to follow the rules if you want to get elected to the highest office in the country.
