Wikipedia

Chris LaCivita

Christopher Joseph LaCivita (born 1966) is an American political consultant and former partner in FP1 Strategies,[1] a national public affairs and campaign firm. He most recently served as senior adviser to Donald Trump's successful 2024 presidential campaign.[2][3]

Chris LaCivita
Born
Christopher Joseph LaCivita

1966 (age 57–58)
McKeesport, Pennsylvania, U.S.
EducationVirginia Commonwealth University (BS)
Political partyRepublican
SpouseCatherine
Children2
Military career
Allegiance United States
Service / branch United States Marine Corps
Years of servicec.1989–1991
RankSergeant
Battles / warsGulf War
AwardsPurple Heart

The Swift Boat Veterans, an independent-expenditure group, was credited with a significant impact on the 2004 presidential election by advancing a sharp attack on John Kerry's military record,[4] described by Mother Jones magazine as a "smear campaign," and by NPR as discredited.[5] Since 2004, he has been president of the firm Advancing Strategies LLC. LaCivita was formerly with Crosslink Strategy, a conservative lobbying and political consulting firm founded by Terry Nelson, a former John McCain advisor, and also a founding partner of FP1.

Early life and education

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LaCivita was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the Richmond, Virginia area, graduating from Midlothian High School. His father was a first-generation Italian-American and his mother was a first generation Irish-American.[6]

He received his bachelor's degree in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1989.[7] He joined the US Marine Corps and was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds received while serving in the Persian Gulf War in 1991; he was discharged as a sergeant.[8] After that he taught part-time at Regent University and began a new career as a political consultant.

Early career in Virginia politics

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Active in Republican politics following his Gulf War service, LaCivita did field work for George Allen in central Virginia during his 1991 congressional campaign, then went with him to Capitol Hill, serving as a legislative assistant on foreign and defense policy.[9] When Allen ran for Governor of Virginia in 1993, LaCivita organized in the Richmond area, Southside and central Virginia, then was appointed to serve as an assistant secretary of administration.[10]

He left state service in 1995 to help run Allen's political action committee, assisting legislative races that year (wherein the GOP captured a tie in the State Senate). LaCivita was named executive director of the state Republican Party in 1996, after Allen's allies won control of the RPV.[9] LaCivita ran the state party organization, as Jim Gilmore succeeded Allen as governor in 1997, acting as overseer of 'internal squabbles,' but going on later to capture control of both houses of the General Assembly in 1999.[11]

LaCivita and former gubernatorial chief of staff Jay Timmons worked on Allen's successful campaign in the 2000 Senate election against two-term Democrat Chuck Robb, a race he won with 52% of the vote.[9][12]

In 2001, LaCivita was drafted in the final two months to shore up the losing campaign of Republican Attorney General Mark Earley for governor against Democrat Mark Warner.[13] As Fred Barnes wrote:[14]

"Earley wasted the summer and didn't find a message until September -- after party officials dispatched Chris LaCivita, the political director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, to run his campaign. The message, it turns out, is a hardy perennial for Republicans: taxes."

Earley, down by 13 points in mid-summer, closed the gap late in the campaign but eventually lost by five points, 52%-47%, to Warner.[15]

National political career

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Early 2000s

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During the 2002 midterm elections, LaCivita served as the political director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) under the chairmanship of Senator Bill Frist.[16] That November, the GOP scored a net gain of two Senate seats, recapturing control of the upper chamber.

While at the NRSC, LaCivita was the direct supervisor of James Tobin, another former employee of the DCI Group. In 2005, Tobin was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for his role in the 2002 NH phone jamming scandal for his activities during that campaign; LaCivita was on Tobin's witness list but never called. Democrats, who sought testimony from LaCivita for a civil suit tied to the same incident, recently settled that civil suit out of court. Tobin's conviction was overturned on appeal.

In 2003, LaCivita served as president of Progress for America, later giving that role to former DCI employee Brian McCabe while LaCivita became its executive director. LaCivita at one time worked for the Republican political consulting firm DCI Group, which had close ties both to Progress for America and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Swift boat advertisement campaign

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During the 2004 US presidential campaign, LaCivita served as consultant and principal media advisor to the Swift Boat Veterans, writing and producing the group's memorable (and controversial) television commercials in association with Rick Reed.[17][18][19] a group financed by Texas multimillionaires T. Boone Pickens, Bob J. Perry,[20][21] and Harlan Crow via the Progress for America Voter Fund.[22] The advertisements falsely attacked John Kerry's military record.[23] They were contradicted by Kerry's crewmen and Navy records.[24] The discredited campaign led to the term swiftboating entering the political vocabulary to define smear campaigns.[17][20]

Later 2000s

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At the same time he consulted for "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth", LaCivita consulted for the NRSC, now headed by former client George Allen, as it scored a net gain of four Senate seats in the 2004 cycle.

LaCivita continued his independent-expenditure work in 2005, producing ads in support of Attorney General Jerry Kilgore in his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign.

In 2005 and 2006, LaCivita was a senior strategist for Vern Buchanan, who won a contested primary and general election in Florida's 13th congressional district by less than 400 votes. In the 2006 Florida gubernatorial election, LaCivita ran an independent organization, Floridians for a Better and Brighter Future, in support of Charlie Crist's Republican primary campaign against Tom Gallagher.[citation needed] In 2006, LaCivita was a general consultant for Bob Corker's successful campaign for Senate in Tennessee. As Corker lagged in the polls behind Democratic opponent Harold Ford, LaCivita was later replaced by Tom Ingram who engineered a late-in-the-game turnaround to narrowly win the general election. In 2007, LaCivita told reporters that the GOP could silence the press uproar over the sudden dismissal of eight US Attorneys by promoting stories about the most extreme among anti-Bush activists. "When are we going to make it about Code Pink and the rest of the liberal weirdos controlling the Democrat agenda?" he asked.[25] That fall, he guided Jill Holtzman Vogel to her initial victory in the Winchester-based Virginia State Senate contest.[citation needed]

During the 2008 presidential campaign, LaCivita and Tony Feather launched a new 501(c)4 issues advocacy group, the American Issues Project, after a series of meetings with other Swift Boat donors. In August 2008, AIP began airing ads in battleground states seeking to raise questions about Democratic Party presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama's ties to former student radical William Ayers.[26] The American Issues Project had a sole donor, Harold Simmons, an 87-year-old Dallas billionaire who was also a principal donor, along with T. Boone Pickens, to the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth PAC. On October 10, 2008, a campaign finance watchdog group, Democracy 21, filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission about the group's alleged violations of election campaign law.[27] In 2009 AIP aired a second national TV spot (colloquially called the "Jesus" ad) targeting the Obama stimulus package as unprecedented in its size and wastefulness[citation needed]. The spots were produced by Larry McCarthy under LaCivita's direction.[citation needed]

In 2009, LaCivita was the general strategist for State Senator Ken Cuccinelli's successful bid for Attorney General of Virginia. He also guided Jeffrey McWaters to victory in a December special election for Virginia State Senate, occasioned by the departure of longtime incumbent Ken Stolle in Virginia Beach.[citation needed]

2010s

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In the summer of 2010, LaCivita returned to the NRSC as its political director, the same post he held in 2002.[28] Under his direction, the GOP scored a net gain of five Senate seats in the November 2010 general elections. Throughout 2010, LaCivita consulted for several GOP congressional campaigns, most prominently that of State Senator Robert Hurt who was elected in Virginia's 5th Congressional District over Democratic incumbent Tom Perriello. LaCivita aided businessman Scott Rigell in his successful bid for election in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District over incumbent Glenn Nye.[29] But his client in Missouri's 3rd congressional district, Ed Martin, fell short in his bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Russ Carnahan.

In 2011, Virginia Republicans succeeded in ousting two Democratic State Senators, gaining a 20–20 tie (and an effective majority with GOP Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling acting in their favor). LaCivita was the strategist for Bill Stanley,[30] who defeated longtime Democratic incumbent Roscoe Reynolds in a race between two Southwest Virginia senators thrown together by redistricting. Stanley prevailed by a margin of 644 votes, 46.80% to 45.54%.[31] LaCivita helmed the 2012 Senatorial campaign of Linda McMahon in Connecticut, losing to Congressman Chris Murphy.[32] At the same time, he guided Robert Hurt to his first re-election in Virginia's 5th Congressional District, defeating challenger John Douglass by 12 points.[33] LaCivita was a consultant to black conservative Congressman Allen West of Florida,[34] who was defeated for re-election in a heavily redistricted seat.[35]

LaCivita was the chief strategist for the 2013 gubernatorial campaign of longtime client Ken Cuccinelli in Virginia.[36] The conservative Attorney General, heavily outspent and behind in every public survey from July to November, battled to a surprisingly close finish[37] against former Democratic Party chair Terry McAuliffe, losing 45.2% to 47.7%, a margin of 56,000 votes of 2.2 million cast.[38] Afterwards, LaCivita blamed the October 2013 government shutdown for slowing Cuccinelli's momentum in the final weeks, while praising the support received from the Republican National Committee and the Republican Governors Association.[39] In September 2014, Senate Republicans tapped LaCivita and his ally, Corry Bliss, to rescue the faltering campaign of incumbent Pat Roberts in Kansas, facing a serious challenge from Independent candidate Greg Orman (following the withdrawal of the Democratic nominee, in what was heretofore a three-way general-election contest).[40] Roberts, behind or even with Orman in nearly all opinion polls that fall, won re-election with a surprisingly strong 53.1% to Orman's 42.5%.[41] However, LaCivita's House candidate in Northern California, Doug Ose, fell just short of victory after a protracted count, losing by 1,400 votes to incumbent Ami Bera.

In January 2015, LaCivita was named a senior adviser to the exploratory presidential campaign of Senator Rand Paul.[42] Paul suspended his campaign in February 2016, after finishing in fifth place out of 12 Republican candidates at the Iowa caucuses.

In April 2016, the Republican National Committee hired LaCivita as a senior adviser for what was expected to be a fractious National Convention in Cleveland.[43] His longtime former Virginia client, Ken Cuccinelli, plotted a floor challenge to disrupt Donald Trump's path to the nomination.[44] Working for RNC Chair Reince Priebus, LaCivita and others were instrumental in shutting down the "Never Trump" movement's floor challenge on the first day of the convention. According to Kyle Cheney of Politico, "The RNC and Trump campaign whips [went] to work. With the lists of insurgent delegates in hand, dozens of aides worked the convention floor for about 15 minutes, collecting their own set of withdrawal signatures. In the end, four of the initial 11 states saw enough delegates abandon the roll call effort to scuttle it."[45] That November and December, LaCivita served as a national GOP liaison to Republicans named to the Electoral College. LaCivita was Pat McCrory's strategist in his unsuccessful 2016 campaign for reelection as Governor of North Carolina.[46][47][48] McCrory, outspent 2-to-1, lost by just 10,000 votes, 48.8% to 49.0% (confirmed only after a recount) to Democrat Roy Cooper.[49] In 2017, LaCivita was hired as a general consultant to the Kim Guadagno campaign for governor in New Jersey shortly before her victory in the Republican primary. Guadagno was defeated in the fall, part of the Democratic sweep in the Garden State.[50]

During 2017 and 2018, LaCivita served as a consultant to the American Action Network and Congressional Leadership Fund, the SuperPAC allied with GOP Speaker Paul Ryan, reuniting with longtime campaign partner Corry Bliss.[51] In that capacity, he led several Independent Expenditure campaigns in House races,[52] including GOP victories for Will Hurd (Texas's 23rd Congressional District) and Andy Barr (Kentucky 6th Congressional). He was also a general consultant to Anthony Gonzalez, the former NFL wide receiver and Stanford graduate who won the Republican nomination and was elected Congressman from Ohio's 16th Congressional District.[53] In 2018, LaCivita advised Republican businessman and academic Bob Stefanowski in his insurgent campaign for governor of Connecticut.[54] First-time candidate Stefanowski triumphed unexpectedly, skipping the state GOP convention and qualifying for the primary by petition (first candidate in state history to do so). Stefanowski won the nomination in the contested five-way primary.[55] Running close in polls throughout the fall despite the anti-Trump tide in a Democratic state,[56] Stefanowski was defeated 46.2% to Ned Lamont's 49.4%.[57]

LaCivita joined FP1 in January 2019.[1]

2020s

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On August 31, 2020, LaCivita was announced as head of Preserve America, a new pro-Trump superPAC that began a $30 million advertising blitz in early September, focusing initially on the swing states of Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Iowa, and Georgia.[58] In 2022, he was the general consultant for Ron Johnson's re-election bid for United States Senator from Wisconsin.[59] LaCivita currently serves as a senior advisor on Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.[2][60]

As of 2023, LaCivita was the chief strategist of Trump's MAGA Inc. Super PAC.[61] In March 2024, LaCivita also became Chief Operating Officer of the Republican National Committee.[62]

Arlington National Cemetery incident

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On August 27, 2024, an incident occurred at Arlington National Cemetery in which two Trump staffers, Justin Caporale and Michel Picard, shoved a female cemetery employee who was trying to stop the Trump team from photographing and filming a campaign promotion in a heavily restricted area of the cemetery known as Section 60, which is primarily reserved for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. A federal law prohibits the use of U.S. military facilities, cemeteries in particular, for political campaigns.[63]

LaCivita called the cemetery employee a “despicable individual”[64] and, in response to a rebuke from the U.S. Army, posted a video on Twitter "hoping to trigger the hacks” at the Office of the Army Secretary.[65]

Personal life

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LaCivita lives outside Richmond, Virginia, with his wife, Catherine, and their two children.

References

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  1. ^ a b "FP1 Expands Team With New Partner Chris LaCivita" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 23, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Isenstadt, Alex (January 12, 2023). "Trump prepares to open next phase of 2024 campaign in South Carolina". POLITICO. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  3. ^ Lowell, Hugo (January 13, 2023). "Trump to ramp up efforts to secure 2024 Republican nomination after slow start". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  4. ^ Zernike, Kate (June 22, 2008). "Veterans Rebut 'Swift Boat' Charges Against Kerry in Answer to Challenge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  5. ^ Treisman, Rachel (August 10, 2024). "A brief history of swift boating, from John Kerry to Tim Walz". m.kuow.org. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  6. ^ Hester, Wesley P. (June 12, 2011). "Powhatan's LaCivita a political warrior on national stage". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  7. ^ April 2002, Campaigns & Elections, "Rising Political Stars of 2002".
  8. ^ "About Chris LaCivita". Times-Dispatch. June 12, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  9. ^ a b c Melton, R.H. (June 2, 1999). "Virginia Notebook; Out of GOP Frying Pan, Into 2000 Campaign Fire". The Washington Post.
  10. ^ "GOP director to manage Allen's campaign". Associated Press. June 3, 1999.
  11. ^ Melton, R.H. (February 15, 1999). "Va. GOP's Power Quest Beset by Internal Squabbles". The Washington Post.
  12. ^ Schapiro, Jeff (October 22, 2000). "Skull Sessions Set Course Of Campaigns; Political Friends Sounding Boards". Richmond Times-Dispatch.
  13. ^ Beiler, David (December 2001 – January 2002). "Mark Warner's Five-Year Plan". Campaigns & Elections.
  14. ^ Barnes, Fred (October 29, 2001). "Earley to Bed? Democrat Mark Warner threatens the GOP hold on Virginia". The Weekly Standard. Washington, D.C.
  15. ^ November 4, 2001, Washington Times, Stephen Dinan, "Earley camp optimistic after poll shows closer race".
  16. ^ Van Dongen, Rachel (January 8, 2001). "In With the New: Allen Campaign Chief Joins NRSC As Political Director". Roll Call.
  17. ^ a b Herb, Jeremy (August 9, 2024). "With 'Swift Boat' architect at the helm, Trump campaign uses familiar playbook against Walz". CNN. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  18. ^ Pangelly, Martin (August 31, 2020). "Republican who 'swift boated' John Kerry to run pro-Trump Super Pac". The Guardian. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  19. ^ Freedlander, David (February 22, 2024). "Chris LaCivita, the Swiftboater Coming for Biden". New York (magazine). Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  20. ^ a b Zernike, Kate (June 30, 2008). "Veterans Long to Reclaim the Name 'Swift Boat'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  21. ^ "'Swift Boat' backer is major political financier". Associated Press. August 28, 2004. Retrieved August 9, 2024 – via NBC News.
  22. ^ Bennett, Laurie (August 12, 2012). "Harlan Crow's Political Contributions Take Many Paths". Forbes. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  23. ^ Borger, Julian. "Smear master sets sail in dirty waters". The Guardian Weekly. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  24. ^ Brooks, Jackson (August 22, 2004). "Republican-funded Group Attacks Kerry's War Record". FactCheck.org. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  25. ^ Allen, Mike; Martin, Jonathan (March 14, 2007). "Capital Turns Cold for Bush". POLITICO. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  26. ^ Mosk, Matthew; Cillizza, Chris (September 13, 2008). "Group with Swift Boat alumni readies ads attacking Obama". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  27. ^ "Democracy 21 Files Complaint Today Calling on FEC to Investigate Whether Two Outside Groups Illegally Spent Soft Money to Influence the 2008 Presidential Election". Democracy21. October 10, 2008. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  28. ^ Shear, Michael D. (October 20, 2010). "Campaigns Don't Coordinate. Really". The Caucus. Archived from the original on October 24, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  29. ^ "Chris LaCivita Joins Scott Rigell Campaign | Bearing Drift". March 2010.
  30. ^ "Decision time for Chairman Bill Stanley in the Fifth District – the Bull Elephant". May 7, 2014.
  31. ^ "November 2011 General Election Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  32. ^ Applebome, Peter (November 3, 2012). "Personal Cost for 2 Senate Bids: $100 Million". The New York Times.
  33. ^ "Virginia State Board of Elections". Archived from the original on July 15, 2010. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  34. ^ "Allen West plagued by scam PACs - POLITICO". Politico. October 17, 2012.
  35. ^ "Allen West Faces Challenge After Redistricting". NPR.
  36. ^ "Cuccinelli seeks to fire up base". Politico. October 19, 2013.
  37. ^ "2013 Virginia election results: Why Terry McAuliffe barely won". Politico.
  38. ^ "Official Results - General Election - November 5, 2013". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on February 25, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  39. ^ "Top Cuccinelli Aide Blames Shutdown for Defeat". National Review. November 7, 2013.
  40. ^ "GOP scrambles to save Roberts". Politico. September 10, 2014.
  41. ^ "2014 Official Kansas General Election Results" (PDF). Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  42. ^ Reinhard, Beth (January 12, 2015). "Rand Paul Taps Veteran Adviser for Likely 2016 Campaign". Wall Street Journal.
  43. ^ "RNC launches grassroots assistance project". Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  44. ^ Cheney, Kyle (July 17, 2016). "Never Trump plots last stand at Cleveland convention". Politico. Arlington, Virginia: Capitol News Company.
  45. ^ Cheney, Kyle (July 18, 2016). "Chaos erupts on GOP convention floor after voice vote shuts down Never Trump forces". Politico. Arlington, Virginia: Capitol News Company.
  46. ^ "LGBT law puts North Carolina governor in precarious position". The St. Augustine Record. Associated Press. April 20, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  47. ^ Jarvis, Craig (January 7, 2016). "McCrory names campaign team". The News & Observer. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  48. ^ Fausset, Richard (November 10, 2016). "Roy Cooper Holds Thin Lead Over Gov. Pat McCrory in North Carolina". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  49. ^ Cook, Rhodes, America Votes 32, Sage Publishing, 2017.
  50. ^ "Can Guadagno use property tax anger to become governor?". October 2017.
  51. ^ Johnson, Eliana (June 23, 2017). "The GOP's one-man fire brigade". Politico. Arlington, Virginia: Capitol News Company.
  52. ^ Schneider, Eliana (July 17, 2018). "'These guys need to wake up': House Republicans badly outraised in midterms". Politico. Arlington, Virginia: Capitol News Company.
  53. ^ Gomez, Henry J. (March 25, 2018). "It's A Former NFL Player Vs. A Donald Trump Acolyte In A Battle For The Soul Of The Republican Party In Ohio". BuzzFeed.
  54. ^ Vigdor, Neil (October 21, 2018). "Stefanowski Keeps Low Public Profile; Republican, So Far, Keeps Media At Arm's Length, Focuses On TV Ads, Invitation-Only Events". Hartford Courant.
  55. ^ Hartford Courant, August 22, 2018, "Stefanowski Hosts GOP Brass"
  56. ^ "Institute for Public Policy 2018 Gubernatorial Race" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  57. ^ Cook, Rhodes (2017). America Votes 32: Election Returns by State. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. p. 117. ISBN 978-1506368986.
  58. ^ Isenstadt, Alex (August 31, 2020). "Swift Boat mastermind to launch massive super PAC to boost Trump". Politico.
  59. ^ "Journal Sentinel".
  60. ^ Lowell, Hugo (January 13, 2023). "Trump to ramp up efforts to secure 2024 Republican nomination after slow start". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  61. ^ Citations:
  62. ^ Aleem, Zeeshan (March 13, 2024). "Opinion | The first act in Trump's RNC takeover is a major purge". MSNBC.com. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  63. ^ Fowler, Stephen; Bowman, Tom; Lawrence, Quil (September 5, 2024). "Trump deputy campaign manager identified in Arlington National Cemetery dustup". NPR. Retrieved September 21, 2024. The two staffers, according to a source with knowledge of the incident, are deputy campaign manager Justin Caporale and Michel Picard, a member of Trump's advance team.
  64. ^ Downie, James (September 1, 2024). "Trump's Arlington stunt was even more offensive than we first thought". MSNBC. Retrieved September 24, 2024. Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita, best known for leading the smear of 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry's military service, called her a 'despicable individual'.
  65. ^ Houghtaling, Ellie Quinlan (August 29, 2024). "Team Trump Makes Arlington Cemetery Fight Way Worse With Army Insult". The New Republic. Retrieved September 24, 2024. 'Reposting this hoping to trigger the hacks at @SecArmy,' LaCivita wrote Thursday afternoon, resharing a campaign video of Donald Trump at Arlington National Cemetery earlier this week.
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