Trump faces criticism for visit to Arlington and incident with cemetery official

Former President Trump continues to face criticism for his visit to Arlington National Cemetery. Lisa Desjardins reports on the campaign’s tumultuous week.
Geoff Bennett:
And let’s turn now to our Lisa Desjardins for an update on the Trump campaign.
Lisa, it’s good to see you.
So, as we heard, the U.S. Army issued this stark rebuke of the Trump campaign, saying that campaign staff — quote — “were made aware of federal laws regarding political activity at Arlington National Cemetery,” and they’re confirming the reports that Trump campaign workers abruptly pushed aside a cemetery official.
How’s the Trump campaign responding?
Lisa Desjardins:
Let’s go through this.
The Trump campaign contended that there was not a physical altercation, as reported. They’re not backing down from that, but, at the same time, they are not supplying the video that they claim that they have to prove their case.
And I will tell you, I have asked them a dozen times for that video. Now, here’s the policy at the cemetery to look at it. It’s very clear. This is from the U.S. military: “Filming or photographing will not be permitted if it conveys the impression that cemetery officials or any visitor is endorsing any product, service, or organization. Additionally, ANC,” Arlington National Cemetery, “will not authorize any filming for partisan political or fund-raising purposes.”
So it really wasn’t an issue necessarily about families being able to do this. It was the fact that the Trump campaign had an official photographer there for campaign purposes.
Now, in response to that, Steven Cheung, his campaign spokesperson, put out a post yesterday with an e-mail that they say supports their case. It does indicate that — it says only Trump may have an official photographer, but, Geoff, it’s an excerpt. It could be talking about the visit to the Tomb of the Unknowns and not Section 60.
There’s different sensitivities there. Section 60 is a place of real-time grief. It is alive. It is a very sensitive area . And it is something that those officials protect particularly stringently.
Geoff Bennett:
I know you have been talking to Republican operatives and voters as well. What are they saying about this?
Lisa Desjardins:
Right.
Campaign staff has told me in the past that Afghanistan, the Afghan withdrawal, is something they think is one of their strongest pieces of evidence against the Biden/Harris administration. And they also know that they feel like they have strength with military, military causes. So there is some concern among them in the Trump universe that this dilutes that case on Afghanistan.
Now, the question is, what do voters think about this? And I also spoke to some voters today. I talked to some of our deciders, those undecided voters we have been keeping track of across the country, those who are in the military. I spoke to a retired colonel from Michigan who told me he didn’t really understand exactly what happened, who was wrong or right, but that he had one larger takeaway.
Col. Dave Herring (Ret.), U.S. Army: The bottom line for me is why was he there now? And how is he using it? I — it can only be political. And that’s unacceptable. Arlington Cemetery is hallowed ground. It shouldn’t be used for anything personal or political.
Lisa Desjardins:
Dave Herring says he’s still not all the way on board the Harris campaign, but this pushes him farther away from the Trump campaign.
I will say a different retired officer undecided I spoke to him in Pennsylvania pointed out, he actually has more problems with Biden and Harris because of what happened in Afghanistan. He actually didn’t mind the photo-op for Trump. He said, ah, maybe not that great, but his problem is with the way the Gold Star families have been treated by the Biden ministry.
Geoff Bennett:
Well, as Amna and Laura were discussing, Donald Trump is drawing fresh scrutiny for a series of lewd and rude posts on his social media account. In some ways, that’s not new. But what sets this apart?
Lisa Desjardins:
That’s important. It’s not new. Trump is instinctual. He is purposefully offensive when he wants to be.
And what’s important now is the timing of this and the key voter groups that could be affected. Particularly, let’s talk about women. Now, the posts that Laura and Amna were talking about involved a picture of Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton together. And it raised Bill Clinton’s affair with a White House intern when he was president.
And it implied that Harris came into power by giving sexual favors. Now, that, of course, is made up. It is unfounded. And it is highly offensive to many women in general. Now, those are not new things for Trump. But these are critical weeks. And we know suburban women are a group that both campaigns believe are important everywhere, but especially in those swing states.
So while it’s not clear how many voters are persuadable right now, this is the kind of thing that people who would like Trump to win, but maybe are uncomfortable with him, really groan about, this sort of unfiltered idea.
Now, we know Trump cares because today he also announced that he would like government or insurance companies to pay for IVF services, something else that is thought of to be a concern for suburban women. So they know there’s an issue there. They’re trying to figure out how to get back on their feet.
Geoff Bennett:
OK. Lisa Desjardins, thanks so much.
Lisa Desjardins:
You’re welcome.