AXIOS, a left-leaning news organization, is painting a word picture that shows former President Trump pushing his way into Arlington National Cemetery to politicize a gathering of the families of those soldiers who were killed during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Daily Caller, a conservative news organization co-founded by Tucker Carlson, is painting a very different and, I believe, more accurate picture of what took place at Arlington National Cemetery.
The legacy news is running with the AXIOS version of events.
Be informed, not misled.
The families of the soldiers who gave their lives for the country and were killed in the disastrous withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan gathered at the graves of their children and loved ones at Arlington National Cemetery.
They invited President Biden, Vice President Harris, and former President Trump.
Trump was there.
The war on Trump
The Daily Caller begins with this:
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson had to intervene to get former President Donald Trump into Arlington National Cemetery for the third anniversary of the Afghanistan withdrawal with Gold Star families, a family told the Daily Caller.
The Gold Star families, who lost their children during the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, invited Trump to Arlington National Cemetery. He laid a wreath there for the 13 servicemembers who were killed serving their country in Afghanistan. However, a Gold Star family told the Caller that Arlington National Cemetery was trying to make it difficult for the former President to appear for the ceremony to honor their children, something the families requested.
The Daily Caller continues:
Arlington National Cemetery told Gold Star families that they could only be there for a specific time that did not work for everyone’s schedule and were also told the president [Trump] could not join them at their children’s gravesites, the family told the Caller.
Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Michael McCaul explained to the Caller that he was contacted by Gold Star parents Darin Hoover and Kelly Barnett, the parents of SSGT Taylor Hoover. Hoover and Barnett told him that Arlington Cemetery was giving the Gold Star parents of the U.S. servicemembers killed at Abbey Gate a hard time about coordinating a ceremony with Trump on the anniversary of their deaths.
McCaul immediately reached out to Johnson to ask for his assistance with the matter and the Caller is told he continued to track it until it was fixed.
“When Darin and Kelly contacted me, I was furious to hear their request to have President Trump join them to commemorate the anniversary of Taylor’s death was being stymied, along with several of the other family members of U.S. servicemembers killed at Abbey Gate. I immediately asked what I could do to help and reached out to Speaker Johnson to see what he could do. Thankfully, Speaker Johnson and his team acted quickly and were able to get the situation resolved. But something like this should never have happened. Gold Star families have already suffered enough,” McCaul told the Caller.
Republican California Rep. Darrell Issa has called on Biden to meet with these Gold Star families on multiple occasions, his office told the Caller. His office said he was present for the ceremonies on Monday and had been in contact with Arlington National Cemetery leading up to the anniversary.
“This administration absolutely interfered with the tributes to the 13 fallen. In its war on Trump, it made the Gold Star families collateral damage,” Issa told the Caller.
The Leftist story.
AXIOS ran this headline yesterday: "Trump's Arlington Cemetery dispute escalates."
The story begins with, "Why it matters: The cemetery is sacred ground for hundreds of thousands of American families. A cemetery worker confronted former President Trump's team on Monday to enforce rules against using the setting for political purposes."
AXIOS later added this update to their story: "The latest: An Army spokesperson confirmed in a statement Thursday that an employee was 'abruptly pushed aside' when trying to 'ensure adherence' to the site's rules."
The spokesperson added, "The incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked."
The statement also confirmed the employee decided not to press charges, adding that the matter is now closed. The reason for closing the matter was "fear of retaliation by Trump supporters."
It's closed because what actually happened does not square with that report.
Yesterday afternoon, Trump said he is considering releasing the video of what actually happened with the cemetery worker.
This story has taken on a life of its own, and the legacy media are all weighing in on it as an opportunity to "get Trump."
The Washington Post says, "Cemetery officials told Trump's team that he could come in his personal capacity and bring personal aides, but not campaign staff."
The New York Times says, "The cemetery worker who confronted Trump aides won't press charges because she fears pursuing the matter could subject her to retaliation from Trump supporters."
Associated Press says, "Donald Trump’s campaign was warned about not taking photographs before an altercation at Arlington National Cemetery during a wreath-laying ceremony earlier this week to honor service members killed in the Afghanistan War withdrawal, a defense official told The Associated Press on Wednesday."
Trump's people say they got permission to bring a camera.
Takeaway
“Arlington Cemetery officials claimed the families didn’t want any media, photography, or videography at Section 60, contradicting what the families had actually requested. The families were fine with the media, designated by the Trump team, but Arlington kept pushing back, obstructing the process,” the source continued. “This would not have happened without Speaker Johnson.”
One family member told the Caller in an emotional phone call that he and other Gold Star family members were the ones who called Trump and asked for him to show up. He also criticized the Biden administration for not contacting them for the past three years.
This is the bottom line. One of the family members said this:
“We, WE extended the invitation to President Trump. We are the ones that asked him to come. We are the ones that asked him to assist in laying a wreath for our son, and for the shooting for, Sergeant Canals and for Cole. We’re the ones that asked that. President Trump didn’t come to us. His team didn’t come to us and say, hey, this would be good for business. Business? No. President Trump has stood by us from day one. He has been compassionate. He has been loving. He’s been understanding. He’s taking the mantle of our outrage a little bit. Because to be quite honest with you, being very frank, we haven’t heard diddly squat from the current administration in three years,” he said.
The Daily Caller reached out to the Biden White House for details on why these families were having trouble with Arlington National Cemetery on agreeing to terms for a Trump visit. The White House referred the Caller to Arlington National Cemetery, saying: “This is a matter between the Arlington National Cemetery and the Trump campaign, not a White House matter.”
Nothing is ever, it seems, a "White House" matter unless it personally enriches and politically empowers the so-called "progressives."
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Bold. Be Prayerful. VOTE.