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Senator JD Vance said Vice President Kamala Harris can “go to Hell” at a recent campaign event.
Vance’s comments came during a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania on Wednesday afternoon while speaking about President Joe Biden’s withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in 2021.
“Kamala Harris is so asleep at the wheel that she won’t even do an investigation into what happened and she wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up, she can go to Hell,” Vance said at the campaign rally.
Vance’s comments came as he responded to a reporter’s question about an incident at Arlington National Cemetery earlier this week. The Trump campaign visited the site for the third anniversary of Abbey Gate, where 13 American troops and 170 Afghan civilians died in a terrorist attack in August 2021 as the US pulled out of Afghanistan.
A recent NPR report claimed a Trump campaign staffer verbally abused and pushed a cemetery official who tried to stop them from filming and photographing in Section 60, where troops who have recently died are buried.
“There is verifiable evidence that the campaign was allowed to have a photographer there,” Vance said. “There’s verifiable they were invited to have a photographer there.”
“There’s verifiable evidence that the families of these poor people, who had their loved ones die three years ago at Abbey Road, they had – excuse me, Abbey Gate – those 13 Americans, a lot of them were there with the president, they invited him to be there and to support them,” Vance continued.
Arlington National Cemetery confirmed in a previous statement to The Independent that “there was an incident, and a report was filed.”
A US Army spokesperson also confirmed on Thursday morning that a cemetery employee “who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside.” That employee has decided not to press charges, according to the spokesperson.
“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked,” the spokesperson said.
When previously reached for comment by The Independent, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung denied that there was any physical altercation and vowed to release video to back up his claim.
Vance later told NBC News his comment that Harris should “go to Hell” came amid a wave of frustration.
“Sometimes I get frustrated, and sometimes I get pissed off,” Vance told the outlet. “And I think Kamala Harris’ failure of leadership at Abbey Gate is something to get frustrated and angry about.”
Meanwhile, Harris’s campaign released a statement commemorating the anniversary.
“I will fulfill our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families and I will always honor their service and sacrifice,” Harris said in a statement.
“President Biden made the courageous and right decision to end America’s longest war,” she continued.
