The Harris-Biden administration, which presided over the bloody and expensive withdrawal from Afghanistan and is running a veep candidate who compulsively lies about his military service, is frantically attacking Donald Trump for appearing at Arlington for a private ceremony honoring some of those who died during the botched Harris-Biden withdrawal.

It all started simply enough when family members of those who died asked Trump to participate in the Arlington ceremony on Monday:

It was former President Donald Trump — not President Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris — whom Gold Star families invited to lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to honor the 13 service members killed three years ago in a terrorist attack at the Kabul airport during the hasty U.S. pullout from Afghanistan.

Mr. Trump, who is running neck-and-neck or slightly behind Ms. Harris in national and battleground state polls, seized on the anniversary of the tragic attack to condemn the Biden administration’s foreign policies and link them directly to Ms. Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.

Some of the families of the troops killed in the attack invited Mr. Trump to the ceremony arranged with the National Park Service. They did not invite Biden administration officials.

Trump honored the occasion by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

BREAKING: President Trump lays a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the 13 service members lost in 2021 because of Biden/Kamala’s failed Afghanistan pullout.

This is what a REAL President looks like. 🙏🏻pic.twitter.com/3KCuRQAvBg

— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) August 26, 2024

Later in the same day, at a different venue entirely (the National Guard Association in Detroit), Trump attacked Harris and Biden for their dismal national security policies and their role in the debacle at Abbey Gate.

The problem for the Harris-Biden administration is that the optics were terrible, reminding Americans of one of its most painful, disgusting, and embarrassing military and foreign policy failures. So, of course, the attack dogs were unleashed and came out screaming.

The first line of attack is the claim that Trump improperly used Arlington for a campaign event. Certainly, had Trump invited the media and the public to be there, set up a podium, and made a speech, that would have been a campaign event. However, even per Arlington National Cemetery’s description of what constitutes a partisan event, placing a wreath doesn’t rate, even if you have a photographer on hand:

“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign,” according to the statement. “Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”

But, of course, Trump didn’t hold a campaign event or film a commercial at Arlington. Nevertheless, someone working at the cemetery (presumably a Democrat) tried to block Trump from appearing and to prevent his staff from recording his presence. To hear the Arlington officials, there was a brawl because Trump was capitalizing on the honored dead:

Officials at Arlington national cemetery have filed a report over the behavior of members of Donald Trump’s campaign staff who reportedly shoved and verbally abused an employee during a “crass” photo opportunity for the Republican presidential candidate.

Let’s just say that I have my doubts. Steven Cheung, Trump’s spokesman, offered a more credible explanation:

In a statement to NPR, Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s spokesman, strongly rejected the notion of a physical altercation, adding: “We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made.

“The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and for whatever reason an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony,” Cheung said in the statement.

That sounds straightforward enough and exactly like what one would expect when a Democrat sees a Republican—let alone Trump himself—honor those who died because of the Democrat administration’s disastrous judgment.

However, the MSM’s headlines make it appear as if Trump’s people engaged in fisticuffs with those desperately trying to prevent Megan Thee Stallion from twerking for Trump in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier:

• NPR: “Trump campaign staff had altercation with official at Arlington National Cemetery”
• NYT: “Trump Team Clashed With Official at Arlington National Cemetery”
• The Guardian: “Trump staffers reported over altercation at Arlington cemetery during photo op”
• Daily Beast: “Trump Staff Accused of Getting Physical With Arlington National Cemetery Official”

Naturally, it didn’t stop there. Mentioning the blot on the Harris-Biden escutcheon regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal couldn’t be allowed to stand. Democrats stepped in to say that the blame really rested with...Trump:

Dana Bash got owned for trying to blame Trump for the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/dvz5q9bW5Y

— Sara Rose 🇺🇸🌹 (@saras76) August 23, 2024

They ludicrously claim that because it was Trump who exercised his foreign policy prerogative to withdraw the U.S. from Afghanistan (a decision that most Americans supported), he was responsible for the later mistakes that Harris-Biden made during the withdrawal’s final phases:

TRUMP ADMITTING the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal was his doing, to hurt the incoming Biden administration, TRUMP used those soldiers as pawns pic.twitter.com/Wtk7nPPC5h

— Dane Southard (@Ohdaneit) August 26, 2024

Just one video, however, explains exactly why Trump’s withdrawal would have been successful (and why the Taliban would never have silenced women), in contrast to the Harris-Biden disaster (beginning at 43:12):

I’ll give you my favorite Trump, my favorite President Trump story. This is my number-one favorite of all time. When we were negotiating with the Taliban, when President Trump was still the president, President Trump wanted to get out of Afghanistan, but he wanted a conditions-based withdrawal, meaning that you do what we tell you to do, and then we will start pulling troops back slowly as long as you abide by our rules.

It’s President Trump and Mike Pompeo, and they are talking to Taliban leadership in the room. And they had one translator in the room. President Trump looked at the Taliban leader and said this:

“I want to leave Afghanistan, but it’s going to be a conditions-based withdrawal.”

And the translator translated. And he said,

“If you harm a hair on a single American, I’m gonna kill you.”

And the translator goes [Rep. Hunt mimes a surprised face], and Trump goes, “Tell him. Tell him what I said,” reached in his pocket, pulled out a satellite photo of the leader of the Taliban’s home, and handed it to him, and walked out the room.

Do you know [that] for 18 months, not a single American was killed in Afghanistan? That’s the definition of strength.

The Harris-Biden administration is saddled with a shameful, bloody military debacle that killed Americans and their allies in Afghanistan, gave our enemies massive amounts of American weapons, and humiliated America. The Harris-Walz campaign is saddled with a veep candidate who has consistently lied about his military record (which, without the lies, would have been honorable enough). No wonder the Democrat machine is frantically lying about Trump now.

Image: X screen grab.