Tom Cotton’s Staggering, Shameful Hypocrisy Over Trump’s Arlington Debacle

In his 2019 memoir, Sacred Duty: A Soldier's Tour of Arlington National Cemetery, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) recounted the 16 months, beginning in 2007, he spent as an Army officer assigned to the Old Guard overseeing the spread of the grass hallowed by American heroes. does

During this time, Cotton periodically recruited recruits for his commanding officer and personally supervised several prisoners in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where those who died from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are buried.

"I understand why some call this bucolic patch of land the saddest acre in America, but I like to think of Section 60 as the finest acre in America," he writes in Sacred Duty. "The nobility of Section 60 runs deep in the land of Arlington and in the soul of our nation."

"Over the years, I've noticed something about Arlington. Although a sign welcomes visitors to 'our nation's most sacred shrine,' no rules are posted. Yet visitors somehow somehow understand a proper code of conduct," Cotton continues. "Arlington inspires a natural reverence from citizen and soldier alike because this land is more than a cemetery... Arlington is truly hallowed ground for our nation."

A recent exception to the decorum came during former President Donald Trump's visit to Arlington this week, when 13 were laid at a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the third anniversary of a suicide bombing at Kabul airport during the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in 2021. American soldiers were killed. .

Among the dead is Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, who is buried in section 60. Trump was with Hoover's parents at the event.

"I gave my permission," Hoover's mother, Kelly Barnett, later told NBC News. "My son was murdered under the Biden-Harris administration."

Gold Star parents can say whatever they want in such situations. But such hard-won exemptions did not apply to others, including Trump, who was accompanied by an entourage that included a photographer. (In the graveside photo, Trump was joined by Hoover's parents in giving the thumbs up — but he was ultimately just paying his respects, as usual.)

The military anticipated that this might be one of those rare instances where visitors needed to be clearly informed of the proper code of conduct. The Trump campaign had already been told that campaigning and other partisan political activities in Arlington were against federal law.

That law didn't change because Goldstar's mom invited Trump.

A cemetery official correctly surmised that Trump's staff intended to film the scene for political purposes. She went to intervene and was "suddenly pushed aside", the army's public affairs office said in a statement released on Thursday. "In keeping with the decorum expected at [Arlington National Cemetery], this employee acted professionally and avoided further disruption."

A Trump spokesman strongly suggested the official was "suffering a mental health episode." Even after footage of the cemetery surfaced on social media alongside his statement, Trump himself pleaded ignorance.

"I don't know what the rules are," he told NBC. "I don't really know anything about it… All I do is I stood there and I said, 'If you want to take a picture, we can take a picture.'

He later backtracked, claiming during a political rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on Friday that "I don't need publicity," and raising the possibility that "it was a setup by people in the administration. "

Imagine how young Lieutenant Cotton of The Old Guard—and Harvard Law School graduate—would have responded to people as if the law didn't apply to them in a place where almost everyone understood the rules without being told.

"The soldiers of the old guard strictly adhered to these rules. I cannot recall a single violation during all my time at the cemetery," Cotton writes in his book.

But in response to the former commander-in-chief flouting the law along with simple decency in the holiest part of the Holy Land, Cotton tweeted his approval: "Good for President Trump to honor these fallen heroes and Respect the service and sacrifice of their loved ones."

"The scandal is not the press. Trump paid tribute to the 13 brave Americans killed in Afghanistan. "The scandal is Biden and Kamala sending these heroes into an unnecessarily dangerous situation."

The truth is that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris could have done more to comfort the family. Biden, in particular, could have taken more responsibility for the deaths, even though the bombing occurred during a withdrawal that was timed before Trump left office. That said, it should be noted that an extensive military investigation found that no one could have stopped the attack by a fanatic wearing a 25-pound suicide vest.

But wherever ultimate responsibility lies, Cotton is either deluding himself or taking too much pride in protecting the old guard when it comes to Trump's intentions on the ground.

Another Gold Star parent with a son in Section 60 told The Daily Beast this week that they see Trump as a manipulator with an ever-hungry ego.

"He manipulates and he lies and misleads," said Khizr Khan, father of fallen army captain Humayun Khan.

This isn't the first time Cotton has dishonored himself to cover Trump. He also defended Indefensible two weeks ago, saying Trump was taken "out of context" when he told a golf club gathering that he had met GOP megadonor Dr. Mary Adelson who The civilian Presidential Medal of Freedom offered was "far superior" to the medal. respected

"Everybody gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they're soldiers," Trump said. "They are either in very bad shape because they have been shot multiple times or they are dead."

In Sacred Duty, Cotton writes movingly about stopping by the grave of a Medal of Honor recipient at Arlington.

"I paused, paid attention, and saluted," he writes. "The Medal of Honor is the nation's highest decoration for battlefield valor. In accordance with military custom, all soldiers salute recipients of the Medal of Honor, regardless of rank, life or death."

If Cotton ever stops there again, he will do so as Trump's sidekick, a blind defender of someone who has dishonored both the nation's highest honor — and its most sacred ground.