Arizona Republican and former Vietnam prisoner of war and generally regarded as a hero, Senator John McCain, declared in November 1999 that his then-newly formed presidential campaign had committed “a very bad mistake.”
In an ad he had made for his campaign, Senator McCain—who was well behind George W. Bush for the party nomination—emphasized his respect for fellow service men and his career as a pilot for the Navy. During one scene, Mr. McCain was shown sadly making his way across Arlington National Cemetery.
The Army quickly clarified that the McCain campaign had never sought authorization to film in the cemetery. The request would still have been denied due to the ban on partisan activities at Army locations, according to an Army spokesman who stated at the time. The senator reportedly retrieved the footage during one of his frequent visits to the cemeteries of his father and grandfather, according to a campaign spokesman.
Last week, there was an event in campaign politics that was very similar to this one until it drastically changed course. This past Monday, while visiting Arlington National Cemetery, former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign did not get authorization to film in a restricted area. An Army spokesman stated on Thursday that this was due to the fact that such authorization would have violated federal law.
After Trump campaign officials attacked a cemetery worker who attempted to halt recording, the Army made an unusual public reprimand of them. (The employee had been accused of having a “mental health episode” by a campaign spokesman.) Despite being informed that recording for campaign reasons was against Army regulations, campaign officials from the Trump campaign continued to press forward, even physically pushing aside the cemetery worker, according to the Army.
Photos and videos of the former president paying respects to the graves of Marines slain three years ago during the withdrawal from Afghanistan were published by Mr. Trump and his campaign. The president was shown placing flowers and giving a thumbs up. The video also shows several cemeteries, one of which is the suicide burial of a Green Beret. The photos can be seen on the internet.
Just days after the Army released its statement, Senator McCain swiftly removed the two-second clip of graveyard footage—in which no specific tombstone is visible—from his campaign video. The “stupidity” of his campaign’s delay in responding to the criticism, Mr. McCain remarked.
Similar events involving other candidates often resulted in their swift removal of the photographs. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat seeking reelection as Louisiana governor in 2015, removed a photo of Arlington National Cemetery from an ad following criticism over its inclusion. “We are both uncomfortable and disappointed to see the Arlington National Cemetery used for politics,” the mother of a man buried at the cemetery had written to Mr. Edwards, adding, “when my husband and I see your commercial.”
As is typical of Mr. Trump, the Trump campaign has disregarded long-established political conventions, including those pertaining to veterans and military service, which are held in high regard by many. During the early stages of his 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump implied that John McCain was not a hero of the war due to his capture and subsequent shot down in Vietnam. He stated, “I like people who weren’t captured.” During his time in Vietnam, Mr. Trump was granted five deferments from serving in the draft, including one for a medical exemption due to bone spurs in his heels.
Mr. Trump’s comments on veterans and their families have not stopped drawing criticism. The parents of a Muslim soldier who was killed while speaking at the 2016 Democratic National Convention were degraded by him. After a soldier’s death in Niger, he informed the widow that her husband “knew what he signed up for” the following year. In 2020, he hypothesized that he had contracted the coronavirus from servicemen and their families who had visited the White House.
John F. Kelly, who was once chief of staff to Mr. Trump, revealed last year that the president had, in private, called American soldiers slain in battle “losers” and “suckers.” According to Mr. Trump, he did not make those comments.
According to Peter D. Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University and an authority on civil-military relations, there has always been friction between the military and partisan politics. However, according to Feaver, he cannot remember a situation similar to the one the Army described last week, in which a presidential campaign was informed by the military that it was breaking the law, yet continued anyway and subsequently insulted the public after the news broke.
According to Mr. Feaver, “that happens all too often, and both parties do it” when politicians involve the military in political disputes. What makes this case unique is the response from the Trump team after they were exposed. They refused to back down or even apologize, insisting instead that it was all in their heads.
“The other unusual aspect of this case: a formal follow-up from the Army defending the public official” was Mr. Feaver’s additional remark. The Arlington worker “acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption,” according to the Army’s Thursday statement.
