Speaking to Sean Hannity, Donald Trump contradicted his campaign’s prior statements about a confrontation involving his campaign at Arlington National Cemetery last week.
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Former President Donald J. Trump at Arlington National Cemetery last week.
Former President Donald J. Trump insisted in a radio interview on Tuesday that “there was no conflict” between members of his campaign team and an official at Arlington National Cemetery, contradicting his campaign’s previous statements about the episode last week and Army officials’ account.
“If you look at just the records, there was no conflict, there was no fight, there was no anything,” Mr. Trump said on Sean Hannity’s radio show. Hours earlier, Mr. Trump on his social media site claimed “there was no conflict or ‘fighting’” at the cemetery, calling the story, without evidence, “made up” by the White House.
It was the latest effort by the Trump campaign to defend itself after a physical altercation between a Trump aide and a cemetery official that was set off by the campaign’s defying of a ban on political campaigning at the cemetery in Virginia during Mr. Trump’s visit last week.
Army officials said the cemetery employee had been “abruptly pushed aside” by a Trump campaign aide. The Trump campaign has said there was “no physical altercation” but did not deny there was a dispute. Campaign officials also previously attacked and insulted the cemetery official and said they were prepared to release footage of the episode, though the campaign has not yet done so after repeated requests.
A woman who works at the cemetery filed an incident report with the military authorities over the altercation. But the woman, who has not been identified but was described as a seasoned official at the cemetery, later declined to press charges. Military officials said she feared retaliation from Trump supporters if her identity became known as part of any formal investigation.
Still, Mr. Trump pointed to her lack of a public statement as evidence that the conflict never took place. “Notice that the person representing now doesn’t want to talk,” he said, and added, referring incorrectly to the cemetery official’s gender, “He doesn’t want to speak or talk.”
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Source: nytimes.com
