Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) issued a mea culpa Wednesday for sending out a campaign email with a photo of him and Donald Trump at Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery ― a visit mired in controversy after Trump staff and a cemetery employee reportedly got into an altercation over taking photos and video on the grounds.
Cox apologized after catching flak for the campaign email, which featured an image of him and the presidential candidate at the grave of one of 13 service members who died when the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021. The email included a message asking Cox’s supporters to honor the service members’ memory, as well as a link to donate to his reelection campaign.
“This was not a campaign event and was never intended to be used by the campaign. It did not go through the proper channels and should not have been sent. My campaign will be sending out an apology,” Cox posted on X, formerly Twitter, when it was pointed out that the cemetery forbids the use of its grounds for political and campaign purposes.
His office did not immediately respond when asked for more details about how such an email went out in error.
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Cox’s response to criticism stood in stark contrast to that of the Trump campaign, which has struck a highly combative tone amid the controversy.
“There was no physical altercation as described, and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told NPR after it reported that two of Trump’s aides “verbally abused and pushed … aside” a cemetery staffer who tried to stop the campaign from taking photos and videos.
“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 President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony,” he continued.
After reports of the altercation, Trump posted a video to TikTok showing him walking near the graves of recently buried service members as audio plays of him criticizing President Joe Biden’s administration, which oversaw the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan.
Arlington National Cemetery confirmed that an “incident” occurred and that “a report was filed.” It also shared its policy around campaign activities on the grounds.
“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign,” the cemetery said in a statement. “Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”