The senator defended Trump for taking photos at Arlington National Cemetery that showed the grave of a late service member without permission from the family.
Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican and Donald Trump ally, responded on Sunday to a Gold Star family’s concerns about photographs of the former president’s recent visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, was invited to Arlington—the resting place of over 400,000 U.S. service members, veterans and their families—for a wreath-laying ceremony on Monday to honor the 13 service members killed during the Afghanistan War withdrawal in 2021. His invitation was given by some of the families of the deceased service members.
During his visit, Trump took photos with the family of Staff Sergeant Darin Taylor Hoover—one of the service members killed in the 2021 suicide bombing at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul airport in Afghanistan—at his gravesite. While the Hoover family reportedly gave the Trump team permission to film and take photographs at the gravesite, the family of the late Master Sergeant Andrew Marckesano, whose grave is next to Hoover’s and was shown in photos from Trump’s visit that were posted online, did not.
Marckesano’s sister, Michele, told The New York Times on Wednesday, “We hope that those visiting this sacred site understand that these were real people who sacrificed for our freedom and that they are honored and respected accordingly.
