The U.S. Army defended an Arlington National Cemetery employee who was pushed aside during a visit by former U.S. president Donald Trump, saying that she acted professionally and was being unfairly attacked.

The military rarely comments on political matters. While its statement on Thursday did not explicitly mention Trump or his campaign, it made reference to a Monday ceremony.

On that day Trump, the Republican candidate in the Nov. 5 presidential election, visited the cemetery and took part in a wreath-laying ceremony honouring 13 service members killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

He also visited Section 60 of the cemetery, where troops are buried and is considered hallowed ground in the military.

Federal law and Pentagon policies do not allow political activities in that section of the cemetery, but videos were taken by Trump’s campaign and used in advertisements.

“An ANC (Arlington National Cemetery) employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside,” the Army statement said.

“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked,” it added.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung had said: “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 (former president) Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony.”

Trump’s vice-presidential running mate J.D. Vance, at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, brushed off the criticism and said the Trump campaign had permission to have a photographer present during Trump’s stop at the cemetery.

Politicization concerns

The U.S. military is meant to be apolitical, loyal to the U.S. Constitution and independent of any party or political movement.

But critics accused Trump of using the military as prop and undermining Pentagon efforts to keep out of politics during his four years in office from 2017-2021.

While in office, Trump intervened and restored the rank of a Navy SEAL convicted of posing with the corpse of an Islamic State detainee and threatened to use U.S. troops to put down protests around the country.

Since leaving office, Trump has berated some military officials.

The Arlington cemetery incident has revived fears among some officials and experts that Trump could use the military for political purposes if he wins a second term.

“We really did not want to get involved in this,” said a U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“But what happened (at Arlington) is not acceptable.”

The Army has said that it considers the matter closed since the employee did not press charges.

“It definitely puts the military in a position they’re trying to avoid,” said Kori Schake, a scholar at the Washington, D.C.-based American Enterprise Institute.

Veterans and votes

A post on TikTok by Trump shows images of him near tombstones in Section 60 at the cemetery, sometimes smiling and giving a thumbs-up with the family of at least one service member killed in Afghanistan.

A number of veterans have criticized Trump, calling the move disrespectful.

“This is no way for a government official or political candidate to conduct themselves on the sacred ground of Section 60 at Arlington,” retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“The final resting place of so many heroic Americans — including some who died under my command — is not a political prop,” Stavridis added.

Whether the move will sway veterans on Election Day was unclear.

In a report published in April, the Pew Research Center found that military veterans favour the Republican Party, with 63 per cent of respondents identifying with or leaning Republican.

The Nov. 5 U.S. election is just over two months away.

A tumultuous election season has seen Trump survive an attempt on his life and also a change in the initially expected ballot-box match-up with the withdrawal of U.S. President Joe Biden from the Democratic presidential ticket.

U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris has become the Democratic presidential nominee following Biden’s exit from the race.

That leaves U.S. voters with a new choice to consider: Harris or Trump, who is the Republicans’ presidential pick for the third consecutive election.