WASHINGTON   -   Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said Sunday that her Republican rival Donald Trump “disrespected sacred ground” at a US military cemetery during a contentious pre-election visit.

Trump’s presence at the hallowed Arlington National Cemetery -- intended to provide a campaign boost ahead of the November 5 vote -- has instead mushroomed into a public dispute consuming the candidates and the military. In Monday’s incident at the cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington, Trump broke rules barring photography for political purposes, posing with relatives of US service members killed in Afghanistan in content that was later shared by his campaign on social media.

“Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt,” Harris said. In one image, he is standing with family members of a fallen Marine, posing among headstones while grinning broadly and giving a thumbs-up. “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 wrote on X.