Can Gold Star Families Saddle Kamala Harris With Biden’s Afghanistan Baggage?

One of the first major pitfalls of Kamala Harris’ young campaign seemed to materialize over the holiday weekend, as her team traded barbs with the Trump camp over accusations of disrespecting the military.

Harris first accused Trump of staging a “political stunt” during a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, intended to honor service members killed in the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal.

Reports later came out suggested that an official of the cemetery was “abruptly pushed aside” during an altercation with Trump’s staff over the rights to film at the cemetery. The Trump campaign pushed back against that allegation, and said it was invited by families of the fallen soldiers to attend the event.

“If there is one thing on which we as Americans can all agree, it is that our veterans, military families, and service members should be honored, never disparaged, and treated with nothing less than our highest respect and gratitude,” Harris said shortly after the initial report came out.

Trump “disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt,” she added.

Analysts who spoke to Newsweek said Harris’ attack line could backfire and reignite criticism of the administration’s handling of military matters it might rather not relitigate, particularly the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago.

After Harris lodged her criticism, Trump’s campaign released a statement from many of the Gold Star families who invited him to Arlington National Cemetery for what became the photo-op in question. They defended the Republican presidential nominee and insisted that Harris was the one politicizing the memory of their fallen loved ones, even cutting an ad for the Trump campaign slamming Harris that circulated widely online over the holiday weekend.

“President Trump was invited by us, the Gold Star families, to attend the solemn ceremonies commemorating the three-year anniversary of our children’s deaths,” said the families in a joint statement. “He was there to honor their sacrifice, yet Vice President Harris has disgracefully twisted this sacred moment into a political ploy.”

Harris’ decision to attack Trump over the incident at Arlington is likely to harken back in the minds of some voters to Trump’s disparaging remarks about military figures, from his infamous comment about Senator John McCain — “I like people who weren’t captured” — to his alleged remarks about World War II veterans being “suckers” and “losers.” That, at least, could have been the political strategy.

But some analysts believe Harris’s decision to criticize Trump on military matters carries enormous risks given the Biden administration presiding over the 2021 withdrawal, which resulted in scenes of chaos beamed around the world as well as the loss of 13 U.S. service members.

Since then, polls have consistently shown that the aftermath of the Afghanistan exit is the first point at which Biden’s popularity took a turn, beginning a long and slow slide that never recovered before he they eventually forced him to end his reelection campaign. The debacle remains a sore point for many Americans, particularly Gold Star families who feel the administration failed their loved ones.

“From a political perspective, it’s not a bad move, but it’s a risky one,” said Chuck Coughlin, an Arizona-based political strategist. “They’re going to focus on the Afghanistan situation initially, but there’s also a competing narrative about Trump’s disrespect for military personnel that could gain traction. It might come down to which narrative is louder.”

The Harris campaign faces a dilemma, balancing the contrasting narratives of Trump’s alleged disrespect for military personnel and the Biden administration’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal—a decision that has fallen relatively flat thus far as an attack line against Harris.

“Biden and Vice President Harris have had to defend the decision to withdraw troops, arguing that while the Doha Agreement was initiated under Trump, it ultimately required execution and couldn’t be ignored,” said political strategist Sergio Gutierrez.

“Their challenge has been twofold: to justify ending a long and costly war while also addressing criticism of how the withdrawal was managed,” he added.

Further complicating the military narrative is the controversy surrounding Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, who has faced accusations of “stolen valor” from Trump’s running mate, JD Vance. Walz, a veteran with 24 years of military service, has been accused by Vance of embellishing his military record for political gain.

Weeks after that storyline first emerged after Walz was chosen, and just as it may have been settling down post-convention, four veterans who served with Walz in the National Guard sat for an interview with conservative commentator Megyn Kelly on her podcast Monday, accusing him of grossly exaggerating his military service.

“He lies about everything. He lies about stuff that doesn’t even make sense,” one of the guardsmen said.

Walz has fiercely defended his service, arguing that such accusations are an insult to all veterans.

The issue of military service, particularly the sacrifices made by service members and their families, was until recently something of a third rail in politics. (John McCain once famously used footage from Arlington Cemetery in a campaign ad by accident, but immediately deleted it and acknowledged the mistake.)

But ever since Trump delivered that shocking rejoinder to McCain’s military record as a P.O.W., Democrats have seen an opening to tie the former president up on the issue. Both Coughlin and Gutierrez are among those who believe there is an opportunity for Harris to leverage the most recent controversy at Arlington, given Trump’s strained relationship with veterans and military personnel.

“Military service of that nature is truly noble. However, exploiting such sentiments for political gain could backfire for both sides, as anything that attempts to exploit that is largely looked upon with derision,” Coughlin noted.