ISTANBUL

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were not invited to Arlington National Cemetery last week to mark the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate attack in Afghanistan, according to a White House official and aides to Harris. These statements refute claims made by GOP Senator Tom Cotton and former Representative Tulsi Gabbard.

The controversy began after former President Donald Trump’s visit to Arlington, where he faced criticism for taking photos with Gold Star families in a section of the cemetery where photography is typically prohibited.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby clarified that Trump’s visit was arranged at the "personal invitation" of the families, noting that there are various ways to honor the anniversary.

Cotton alleged during an NBC News appearance that Biden and Harris were also invited by Gold Star families but chose not to attend, suggesting they were instead at a beach and a mansion, respectively. He did not specify which families extended these invitations.

"These families, Gold Star families, whose children died because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ incompetence, invited [Trump] to the cemetery and asked him to take those photos. ... You know who the families also invited? Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Where were they? Joe Biden was sitting at a beach. Kamala Harris was sitting at her mansion in Washington, D.C.," Cotton said.

On Sunday, Gabbard, a former Democratic House member from Hawaii, supported Cotton’s claims on CNN, alleging that Biden and Harris ignored the invitations.