PORTLAND, Maine — Former President Donald Trump's campaign has found itself in hot water over an incident at Arlington National Cemetery this week.
According to a report by NPR, a campaign staffer "verbally abused and pushed" a cemetery employee aside after they tried to enforce rules that prohibit campaigning on the grounds. No charges were filed.
Mr. Trump was posing for video and photos alongside the family of a fallen soldier, and placed flowers on the grave.
NEWS CENTER Maine Democratic political analyst and former state senator Cathy Breen argued the incident was "classic Donald Trump."
"There's a reason that those rules are in place at Arlington National Cemetery, that is sacrosanct, holy ground," Breen said. "There's no political candidate for any reason that should be able to use that backdrop to further their political agenda, to further their campaign. I think it's really, really unfortunate."
Republican analyst and former state senator Garrett Mason agreed with that claim, but disagreed on how much focus was solely on Trump.
"This attitude of, you know, 'Nobody has ever filmed at Arlington.' It's just not true," Mason said. "I mean, every presidential campaign as far back what I could research as Obama has put footage of Arlington in their political campaign commercials."
Mason argued Trump was at the cemetery because he was invited by Gold Star families and claimed they were the ones who asked for the photos, something the campaign itself has attested. The photos and videos were widely shared on social media by the campaign.
"He was invited to break the rules?" Breen questioned.
"The bottom line is that to pretend that this is something that no political campaign has ever done is just not true," Mason said.
Breen challenged Mason, arguing the use of footage or images of the cemetery by a campaign differs from a candidate posing over a grave.
"It's very different," Breen said.
"I agree with your original statement when you said that the backdrops shouldn't be used in politics by any candidate," Mason said.
The Trump campaign denies any wrongdoing. A spokesperson said the team was granted access to have a photographer at the cemetery.
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