Utah Gov. Cox faces scrutiny for using military cemetery photo with Trump in campaign email

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox came under criticism Wednesday for sending a campaign email that included a photo of him and Donald Trump at Arlington National Cemetery during a wreath-laying ceremony.

Federal law prohibits campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries and that rule was widely shared before the Monday ceremony, Arlington National Cemetery said Wednesday.

Cox’s campaign apologized for using the photo and politicizing the graveside ceremony, which honored Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover of Utah who was one of 13 who died in Afghanistan three years ago. The email was soliciting donations for his reelection bid.

“This was not a campaign event and was never intended to be used by the campaign,” the governor wrote in a post on X. “It did not go through the proper channels and should not have been sent.”

Trump’s campaign faced its own blowback after an altercation between his staff and cemetery works. Trump’s campaign was warned about not taking photographs before the altercation at Arlington National Cemetery during a wreath-laying ceremony earlier this week to honor service members killed in the Afghanistan War withdrawal, a defense official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> RELATED COVERAGE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Trump campaign was warned not to take photos at Arlington before altercation, defense official says </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Trump shares