Don Beyer Says He'd Put His Freedom on the Line to Protest Trump's Arch

My question to you is, you're a smart guy, you're a popular guy, just won with 80% of the vote. Why is this the hill you want to die on sort of thing? Why is this so important to you? Focus your time. There are a lot of other hills to die on too, including what we did to USAID, all the people overseas that are dying because we withdrew our support. But this is home, and there are 400,000 veterans buried in that cemetery, including my parents, my grandparents, even my sister, who was born in a U.S. Army hospital with a disability. And so the people here really care about destroying the visual parts, the sacrilege of our community. And so, you know, this is also a thing that unites us. A lot of the things I believe, not everyone who I represent supports it, but everyone hates the arch. So you think the arch is something that should be separated from the rest of Trump's beautification efforts? Very much so. Separated from the reflecting pool or even the ballroom. Because in order to be buried there, you have to be a senior military officer or have been wounded in battle. So not every soldier and every civilian is in here. You actually have to be a sacrifice to the military. You actually have to sacrifice the word of God. And so because the arch looks at the cemetery, you're saying it's a disservice to those? It is. It puts the cemetery in shade 240 days of the year. You know, one of the interesting things about the cemetery is every little gravestone is exactly the same. Even if you were a general or a private, everyone's treated with the same dignity in death. And then you have the arch, which is the opposite of dignity. And not only that, this memorial to a man who was a draft dodger, who did everything he could to avoid serving. All right. Who's called the people that died losers because they died. I definitely get your point of view. I thought it might look kind of nice and that sort of stuff, but you're right. The cemetery stuff, I didn't realize they're casting a set shadow. That's interesting. But what happens if you're going to a commission meeting, or there is one today, to approve it or not? What if they approve it? They're probably going to approve it because all the members of the commission were appointed by Donald Trump. They are his friends. So what are you going to do then? Are you going to do like a sit-in on the grass where the arch is supposed to go? You are not building it? Yes. Oh, you are? That's exactly where we're going. I have my tent and my sleeping bag ready already. Stop it. No. And I won't be alone. There will be many people with me. Are you going to get arrested? Well, I hope so. I don't want to be arrested, but... I'm willing to be arrested, but in the meantime we're hoping that the judge who's overseeing this case may stop them. Okay. That would be the perfect world. Wow. Maybe a big day for you. Okay. Thank you for talking to me, Don. I appreciate it, man. Cheers. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.