'The one thing I get is plenty of publicity': Trump slams critics over cemetery appearance

Former President Donald Trump took a break from attacking his Democratic opponent at his rally Thursday to defend his widely criticized appearance at Arlington National Cemetery.

Trump and his campaign have faced fierce backlash over his visit this week to the cemetery, in which he may have violated federal laws banning the creation of campaign material in specific sections, and also in which an official reportedly declined to press charges against multiple staffers following a physical altercation.

On Thursday, Trump addressed the incident to MAGA rally-goers in Potterville, Michigan, saying three families asked him to go as well as one "horrifically injured" soldier.

"Those incredible parents and sisters and brothers, they asked me to go yesterday to Arlington, and I did," he said.

Trump said he was there "a long time" because he wasn't in a good position to get there.

"I was very far away, but I did," the former president said, telling the rally, in which he arrived an hour late, that he got there "right on time."

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As he was at the cemetery, Trump said one parent asked him for a picture over her son's gravesite. He agreed, they snapped photos, and bid farewell. He said he learned later that night of backlash.

"Last night I read that that I was using the site to politic. That I used it to politic. This all comes out of Washington just like all of these prosecutors come out of Washington. They all come out. They send their prosecutors into the D.A.'s office, they send them into the attorney general's office. These are bad people we're dealing with."

Trump rejected accusations that he was "campaigning."

"The one thing I get is plenty of publicity. I don't need that," he said. "I don't need the publicity. But these are great people and when you think about it, Joe Biden killed their children by incompetence. Should've never happened. Kamala killed their children. Just as though they had a gun in their hand by gross incompetence."

The MAGA leader raged that "not one" general or bureaucrat was fired over what he called "the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country."

"And then they accuse me of having a picture taken at the tombstone with the family. Because they love their president," he added.

Watch the clip below or at this link.