Kamala Harris says Trump ‘disrespected sacred ground’ on cemetery visit

Kamala Harris - the Democratic nominee for November's White House race - has accused Donald Trump of "disrespecting sacred ground" on his recent visit to Arlington national cemetery, as the controversy over an apparent altercation between workers of his campaign and cemetery staff continued to build.

The vice-president on Saturday accused the former president and Republican nominee of staging a "political stunt" after the US army accused the Trump campaign of turning a wreath-laying ceremony on Monday to mark the deaths of US soldiers in Afghanistan into a photo opportunity. The army also accused two campaign workers representing Trump - who said he was invited to the ceremony by the family of one of the honored soldiers - of pushing aside an official who told them it was forbidden to take pictures at the graves of military members who had recently died.

Harris wrote in a lengthy statement on X that the cemetery - the resting place of more than 400,000 military veterans and their eligible dependents, dating back to the revolutionary war - was "not a place for politics".

She said: "Donald Trump's team chose to film a video there, resulting in an altercation with cemetery staff. Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt."

Meanwhile, Democrats have called for a US army report into an apparent altercation between campaign staff and cemetery officials.

In her statement, Harris said: "If there is one thing on which we as Americans can all agree, it is that our veterans, military families, and service members should be honored, never disparaged, and treated with nothing less than our highest respect and gratitude.

"And it is my belief that someone who cannot meet this simple, sacred duty should never again stand behind the seal of the President of the United States of America."