The US Marine Corps has denied that the soldier under investigation for appearing at a Trump rally last weekend is the same troop who lifted a baby over the wall to safety at Kabul airport.
Lance Corporal Hunter Clark 'was not the individual who lifted the child over a wall in the viral image' at Hamid Karzai International Airport in August, the US Marine Corps spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
Trump had invited Clark to his rally in Georgia last Saturday, where the former president and Marine both boasted about his supposed heroic actions captured on camera.
'You saw him. He did a great job,' Trump said, referring to the viral video and photo.
An emotional Clark even introduced himself as the 'guy who pulled the baby over the wall' and teared up as the crowd chanted 'USA'.
The US Marine Corps would not comment on whether Clark appeared anywhere in the video of the baby being lifted over the fence, and it is not clear whether Clark was involved in hoisting any other babies over the wall at the Kabul airport during the chaotic US withdrawal.
While many Marines were seen helping desperate Afghans to safety during the airlift, Clark has yet to provide specific details of when he helped the child.
Marine Lance Corporal Hunter Clark (right) is under investigation after he appeared on stage with former President Donald Trump (left) at a rally in Perry, Georgia on Saturday
Clark introduced himself as 'the guy that pulled the baby over the wall' in the images that went viral from the Kabul airport during the Afghanistan withdrawal last month. There were multiple Marines pictured helping desperate Afghans to safety during the airlift
It is, however, against US Defense Department rules for active-duty troops to 'speak before a partisan political gathering, including any gathering that promotes a partisan political party, candidate, or cause.'
'The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) has initiated a command investigation regarding LCpl Hunter Clark's attendance at the event last weekend to determine if any DoD policies were violated,' Captain Kelton Cochran, a spokesman for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit said in a statement.
'Any details pertaining to this incident are not releasable while the investigation is being conducted,' Cochran added.
Clark did not wear his Marine uniform while on stage with Trump and he did not campaign for any political candidate – even though the former president was there to rally for three different Republican candidates in Georgia.
The marine's mother, Peggy Clark, told CNN that Clark would not be commenting on the ongoing investigation.
'He's asked that I not give out any information right now,' she said. 'He can't do any interviews or speak with anybody right now. I'm sorry.'
It is against Defense Department rules for active duty troops to 'speak before a partisan political gathering, including any gathering that promotes a partisan political party, candidate, or cause.'
The appearance, however, comes as the military is increasingly cracking down on servicemembers' behavior.
Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller was relieved of command after he posted a video to Facebook critical of higher up military leadership and demanding they take responsibility for Kabul falling to the Taliban in the withdrawal.
He is currently being held at the Brig on Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina.
At the event on Saturday, Trump kept 13 front row seats empty with flags on them in honor of the 13 U.S. service members who died in an ISIS-K suicide bombing near the airport last month – 11 Marines, a Navy corpsman, and an Army special operations soldier were among the casualties at the airport's Abbey Gate.
At the rally on September 25, Trump left 13 front-row seats empty with flags on them to honor the 13 U.S. service members who died in the ISIS-K suicide bombing near the Kabul airport in August
A Marine in the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit holds a baby during the evacuation of Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 20
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