Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) recently weighed in on a reported incident involving Trump campaign staffers during a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, calling the perceived shoving “unfortunate.”
“It’s really unfortunate, especially when you have someone that is running to be the most powerful person in the world, to know that they literally just have no appreciation for basic norms,” Crockett said on MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes.”
“This is not the party of law and order,” she added.
During the incident, first reported by NPR, a cemetery official attempted to halt those who were traveling with former President Trump from filming and photographing a part of the cemetery, known as Section 60, where service members recently killed in Afghanistan and Iraq are buried. The former president’s staffers then pushed the official to the side when the staff member tried to restrict them from entering the area, the outlet wrote, citing an anonymous source.
“They don’t abide by norms,” Crockett said when asked about the incident. “They don’t abide by the law.”
The campaign brushed off the allegations, saying a physical altercation did not happen “as described.”
“The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and for whatever reason an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of [former] President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a previous statement.
Trump, the GOP nominee for president, went to a wreath-laying ceremony Monday at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier alongside family members of the 13 U.S. service members killed in the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign,” Arlington National Cemetery said in a previous statement.
“Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants,” officials added. “We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed.”
In an emailed statement to The Hill, Cheung called Crockett “crock full of BS,” adding that she “has no idea what she’s talking about.”
“She wasn’t even there, but that doesn’t stop her from spouting off incoherent nonsense,” Cheung continued. “Where was [Vice President] Kamala [Harris] on that solemn day? Why didn’t she show up to pay her respects to the Gold Star families who lost loved ones during the Abbey Gate debacle?”