No idea why..../s
White House says Biden and Harris weren’t invited to Arlington Cemetery by families of service members killed during Afghanistan withdrawalBiden and Harris' teams pushed back on claims from GOP Sen. Tom Cotton and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard that the president and vice president had been invited alongside Trump.
Sept. 1, 2024, 2:03 PM CDT
By Gabe Gutierrez, Sarah Dean and Alexandra Marquez
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were not invited to Arlington National Cemetery by Gold Star families last week to commemorate the third anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate, a White House official and a Harris aide told NBC News, refuting separate claims made Sunday by GOP Sen. Tom Cotton and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
The two were speaking about former President Donald Trump's visit to Arlington National Cemetery last week, where he has drawn criticism for posing for photos with Gold Star families in a section of the cemetery where photos are traditionally prohibited.
Last week, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said Trump’s visit was a “personal invitation by families.”
“There are many ways that we as a nation and our leaders can observe the third anniversary of Abbey Gate,” Kirby said. “Another way is to continue to work, maybe not with a lot of fanfare, maybe not with a lot of public attention, maybe not with TV cameras, but to work every single day to make sure that the families of the fallen and of those who were injured and wounded — not just at Abbey Gate but over the course of the 20-some-odd years that we were in Afghanistan — have the support that they need.”
The U.S. Army also accused a member of Trump's campaign staff of "abruptly push[ing] aside" a cemetery staff member who sought to enforce restrictions on taking photos and video footage at the location.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-harris-werent-invited-arlington-abbey-gate-trump-rcna169154