Trump and Senate candidate Hung Cao visit Vietnamese community in Virginia

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Former President Donald Trump and Virginia Senate candidate Hung Cao made an appearance Monday at the Eden Center, a Vietnamese commercial center in Falls Church. 

"I don't know what it is. You'll have to explain it. But the Vietnamese community loves me, and I love them," said Trump to a crowd of supporters at the Eden Center Monday morning. 

Trump appeared alongside Hung Cao, the Republican candidate for Senate in Virginia. 

"This is a great gentleman. I love his name, Hung Cao. That name alone should get you elected to serve," said Trump. "We think he's got a very good chance of winning for the Senate. And I really believe it. I hope your community gets out and really supports him, like 100%. Because you can win. You can win. Definitely win. And we're looking to win the state. And I think we will win the state." 

Cao, a retired Navy captain who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam as a child, addressed the crowd in both Vietnamese and English. 

"I'm so honored to represent the Vietnamese-American community. Next year is the 50th anniversary of fall Saigon. And we'll have the first Vietnamese American U.S. senator on the anniversary," said Cao. 

Trump raises issue of muted mics for debate on ABC

Trump on Sunday night raised the possibility that he might not show up for the September 10 debate on ABC, posting on his Truth Social network that he had watched the network’s Sunday show with a "so-called Panel of Trump Haters" and posited, "why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?" and urging followers to "Stay tuned!!"

At the Eden Center on Monday, Trump called ABC "the worst of all networks." 

"I want to have a fair debate. And, you know, they can ask me tough questions. I don't mind. I think I've heard them all from you. I hear them every day. But I think it's very unfair. The single worst network for, unfairness, I think worse than CNN, worse than NBC, which is really hard to believe," said Trump. 

The current dispute centers on the muting of microphones when a candidate isn’t speaking, a condition both Biden and Trump accepted for their June debate hosted by CNN. Both sides are accusing the other of gaming the system to protect their candidate.

Biden’s campaign team made microphone muting a condition of its decision to accept any debates this year, and some aides now regret the decision, saying voters were shielded from hearing Trump’s outbursts during the debate. That move likely would not have helped the incumbent Democrat’s disastrous performance.

The Harris campaign now wants microphones to be live all the time, according to Harris spokesman Brian Fallon, who issued a statement needling Trump.

"Trump’s handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own," Fallon said. Harris "is ready to deal with Trump’s constant lies and interruptions in real time. Trump should stop hiding behind the mute button."

"We agree to the same rules I don't know. Doesn't matter to me, I'd rather have it probably unmuted. But the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time. In that case it was muted. I didn't like it the last time, but it worked out fine. We'll ask Biden how it worked out," said Trump.  "The truth is they're trying to get out of it because she doesn't want a debate. She's not a good debater. She's not a smart person. She doesn't want a debate."

Trump spokesman Jason Miller retorted that the Republican nominee had "accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate." He alleged Harris’ representatives sought "a seated debate, with notes, and opening statements."

Miller then took a shot at Harris not sitting for an interview or holding a news conference since Biden ended his reelection and endorsed her, arguing her campaign now wants "to give her a cheat sheet for the debate."

The Harris campaign denied Miller’s claim that she wanted notes.

Trump visits Arlington National Cemetery on anniversary of Afghanistan suicide bombing

Trump's stop at the Eden Center followed his attendance at a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, where he paid his respects to the service members killed in the bombing outside the Kabul airport. Monday marks three years since the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which killed 13 American service members and more than 100 Afghans.

Today we had a celebration of some great people, some great, great people who passed away, who were killed in the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country, Afghanistan, because we had an incompetent president with incompetent people leading," said Trump. "I just went to Arlington Cemetery and you saw we had a ceremony with the parents, the sisters in one case., brothers in another case. And these are people that should have never been killed."

Since President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Trump has been zeroing in on Harris and her roles in foreign policy decisions. He has specifically highlighted the vice president’s statements that she was the last person in the room before Biden made the decision on Afghanistan.

"She bragged that she would be the last person in the room, and she was. She was the last person in the room with Biden when the two of them decided to pull the troops out of Afghanistan," he said last week in a North Carolina rally. "She had the final vote. She had the final say, and she was all for it."

In a statement marking the anniversary of the Kabul airport attack, Harris said she mourns the 13 U.S. service members who were killed. "My prayers are with their families and loved ones. My heart breaks for their pain and their loss," she said.

In a statement Monday on the Kabul attack anniversary, Biden said the 13 Americans who died were "patriots in the highest sense" who "embodied the very best of who we are as a nation: brave, committed, selfless."

"Ever since I became Vice President, I carried a card with me every day that listed the exact number of American service members who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan—including Taylor, Johanny, Nicole, Hunter, Daegan, Humberto, David, Jared, Rylee, Dylan, Kareem, Maxton, and Ryan," Biden said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.