Ex-Trump defense secretary says Arlington cemetery should never be used for ‘partisan political purposes’ – live

Controversy brews over a report that campaign staffers for Donald Trump were involved in a physical altercation with an official from Arlington national cemetery, which he visited earlier this week. Trump’s former defense secretary Mark Esper told CNN he was waiting to hear the outcome of an investigation into the scuffle, while saying the cemetery should never be used for “partisan political purposes”. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris’s communications director indicated that her campaign and Trump’s were still not on the same page about the rules for their 10 September debate, with the sticking point being whether the candidates’ microphones would be live when it was not their turn to talk. Trump seems to want them switched off, while Harris’s people want them on.

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Here’s what else has happened today so far:

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  Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor who is Harris’s running mate, invited unionized firefighters to tune into the debate, saying: “It’s going to be good.”

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  Clips of JD Vance attacking people who do not have children keep emerging.

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  Trump continued to rail against the gag order imposed on him in his hush money case, saying it is preventing him from talking about the “most important and corrupt aspects” of his prosecution.

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Donald Trump yesterday said he had agreed on the rules for his 10 September debate with Kamala Harris, but a spokesman for the vice-president indicates they still are not on the same page over whether the microphones will be on or off when it is not a candidate’s turn to speak.

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Trump yesterday said he had agreed to the same rules that governed his June debate with Joe Biden. In that case, microphones were muted when it was not time for him or the president to talk.

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In an interview with CNN today, the Harris campaign’s communications director Michael Tyler implied that Trump had agreed that microphones would be on throughout – something the former president has not explicitly said.

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“We’re going to have a 90-minute debate. Both candidates have said that they are comfortable with live, unmuted microphones for the duration of the debate that allows for the free flow and exchange of ideas between the two candidates. I understand that Donald Trump’s team of handlers is now attempting to overrule him. But as insofar as the candidates themselves, we’re in total alignment that this should be a 90-minute debate with live microphones. And so that’s what we look forward to,” Tyler said.

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Asked if Harris would attend the debate, hosted by ABC News, if microphones are not always on, Tyler replied:

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We fully intend to debate. We’re going to be there. The question is, will Donald Trump commit to the terms that he’s publicly agreed to? Or will he let his team overrule him? So I guess we’ll see if when he shows up on September 10, which decision he has made.

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Mark Esper, a former defense secretary under Donald Trump, told CNN that he hoped the reported altercation between the former president’s staff and an official at Arlington national cemetery was investigated, while saying that the grounds should never be used for “partisan political purposes”:

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Trump SecDef Esper tells me he’s “anxious” to see what comes of Arlington investigation- “Bottom line: The principle is that no person or party, either side, should ever use Arlington National Cemetery – or any of our cemeteries or battlefields – for partisan political purposes.” pic.twitter.com/zazLTDGPUQ

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 28, 2024

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Esper served under Trump from 2019 until shortly after the 2020 election, when Trump fired him. The former defense chief has since decried Trump as a “threat to democracy”.

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Tim Walz encouraged unionized firefighters to watch Kamala Harris’s 10 September debate with Donald Trump, saying: “It’s going to be good.”

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“Kamala Harris, she’s ready to hold him accountable on the debate stage,” Walz said of Trump. He continued:

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Tell me you’re not looking forward to that. Look, I know you’re busy. You’re going to be watching Monday Night Football or something, but it’s going to be good. It’s going to be good because again, as I said, this is going to impact you. The things that are said on that debate stage are going to impact your retirement. They’re going to impact your kids, education, they’re going to impact infrastructure. These are things that matter to us.

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Tim Walz is now onstage at the International Association of Fire Fighters convention in Boston, where he’s talking about the Harris campaign’s policies towards labor unions.

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We’ll let you know what the Minnesota governor has to say.

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