Martyrs are Exploited to Score Political Points in America Too

The political storm around Donald Trump's visit to Arlington National Cemetery should be understood in the context of the crude political spite we see during presidential election season. Democrats, along with liberal media outlets, have been up in arms over a photo op that Trump took alongside his supporters facing the graves of soldiers who fell during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, in which he is seen smiling and giving a thumbs-up. The incident has ignited a fierce debate about patriotism, respect, and the place of national symbols in American political life.
There is a deep reverence for Arlington Cemetery in America’s narrative of its national identity, and it is regarded as a quasi-sacred symbol that should be above politics and political divisions. However, this conception of the cemetery leaps over the deep ties of its establishment to American political history, its Civil War, and the reconciliations that followed the war. Nothing attests to this link better than the fact that the cemetery was built, during the Civil War, on land that had been confiscated from Confederate General Robert E. Lee so that it could be used as a burial site to honor Unionist soldiers and officers. That is, its establishment was a political manifesto of the highest order.
The cemetery soon took on broader significance, becoming a major symbol of American soldiers’ sacrifices in war as the United States’ national identity and its values evolved. Arlington eventually welcomed soldiers of African descent and women who had died during their military service, after having long excluded them and other groups.
The fact is that the criticism directed at Trump, the orchestrated uproar over his visit, exemplifies a form of selective outrage that politicians maliciously and hypocritically exploit. It is part of a character assassination campaign- something both sides engage in. In 2010, Republicans sharply criticized former President Barack Obama for not attending a Memorial Day at Arlington Cemetery, a custom in Washington, and they questioned his commitment to the country and his respect for the armed forces.
To take another angle, some of the hyperbolic reactions to Trump’s behavior during his visit to Arlington can be seen as part of an effort to stifle discussions about the decisions and policies of the Biden administration that led to the deaths of these soldiers- during the chaotic withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan- in the first place. Trump wanted his visit to serve as a reminder of the Biden administration’s failure and how it entangled the military in combat operations that could have been avoided. His opponents, however, sought to divert attention away from this issue by playing on notions of respect, patriotism, and populist narratives.
Trump can claim that the best way to show respect for fallen soldiers is to speak out about the reasons they died without equivocation, rather than indulging in “virtue signaling” and focusing on his behavior, no matter how inappropriate and reprehensible it may be. It is not right, under the pretext of national unity and safeguarding shared value through martyrs’ sacrifices, to conjure up distorted and selective versions of history, especially regarding the soundness of decisions in war and peace.
Those who launched this campaign against Trump, however, are undoubtedly aware of the special place that national symbols, particularly national cemeteries, occupy in the hearts of the public, as well as how critical they are for political narratives.
In 1985, the late US President Ronald Reagan was severely criticized following his visit to the Bitburg cemetery in what was then West Germany. A number of German soldiers who had fought in World War II, including soldiers from the Nazi Waffen SS, were buried there. Reagan's visit was part of his effort to reinforce US-German relations. Still, his critics saw it as an insult to the memory of American soldiers who had fought in the war, while Jewish figures saw it as disrespectful to victims of the Holocaust.
It is no exaggeration to say that, from their graves, martyrs shape the dynamics of public affairs in almost all societies, especially when their memory becomes fuel for the collective national and political imagination, a stage for the game of identity, and a tool for reinforcing or undermining political legitimacy.
In fact, while Arlington Cemetery, like other national cemeteries, is more than just a burial, exploiting it for political purposes is neither new nor confined to a single party. The link between Trump’s visit and his other shows of patriotism, as well as his political goals and populist rhetoric, is evident. However, the hyperbolic reactions to it have also politicized respect for fallen soldiers and leveraged this issue for political gain.
This controversy highlights how the most sacred aspects of public life are always vulnerable to politicization during times of deep polarization, as we are currently seeing in the US. Policies of mourning and memory, in this sense, amount to a complex political ritual through which societies shape their collective memory, national identity, and national narratives. This process entails decisions about who is remembered and how they are honored, while the historical context of remembrance plays a role in reflecting the structures of political authority and power relations at a particular moment.