Vance says Harris 'can go to hell’ as campaigns battle over Afghanistan, cemetery incident

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) said that Vice President Harris “can go to hell” in response to a question about a reported altercation at Arlington National Cemetery this week, as he criticized the Biden administration for its handling of the end of the Afghanistan War.

Vance was asked a question regarding an incident involving the Trump campaign, cemetery officials and whether the national cemetery had been politicized by former President Trump with the presence of a photographer. 

He told reporters at his campaign even in Erie, Pa., that the “altercation at Arlington Cemetery is the media creating a story where I really don't think there is one” and argued there was “verifiable evidence” that the campaign was allowed to have a photographer with them.

Vance said that “it is amazing to me that you have, apparently, somebody at Arlington Cemetery, some staff member, had a little disagreement with somebody, and they have turned — the media has turned this into a national news story,” and he argued that veterans care more about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) misrepresenting his military service. 

Vance next pivoted to Afghanistan, hitting Harris over the handling of the country's exit from the country.

“The other thing our veterans care a lot more about is that three years ago, 13 brave, innocent Americans died, and they died because Kamala Harris refused to do her job, and there hasn't been a single investigation or a single firing,” Vance said at the Pennsylvania campaign event.

“Look, sometimes mistakes happen,” Vance continued. “That's just the nature of government, the nature of military service. But to have those 13 Americans lose their lives and not fire a single person is disgraceful. Kamala Harris is disgraceful,” he continued.  

Thirteen Americans were killed in the 2021 suicide bombing at Abbey Gate near Kabul’s airport as the U.S. sought to exit Afghanistan.

“We're gonna talk about a story out of those 13 brave, innocent Americans who lost their lives, it's that 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,” he added. “She can go to hell.” 

The Hill has reached out to the Harris campaign for comment. 

The Harris campaign earlier Wednesday had criticized the Trump campaign over the reported altercation at the cemetery.

NPR, citing an anonymous source, reported that while Trump was there to observe the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing, several Trump campaign aides had an altercation with a cemetery official regarding entering Section 60 of the cemetery, where U.S. service members who died in recent overseas wars are buried.

The Trump campaign disputed the idea that there was such a physical altercation. 

Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler called the confrontation between the Trump campaign and cemetery official “pretty sad” Wednesday during an interview on CNN.

“Donald Trump is a person who wants to make everything all about Donald Trump. He's also somebody who has a history of demeaning and degrading military service members, those who have given the ultimate sacrifice,” Tyler said.