Trump on defensive as critics seize on reports he insulted U.S. veterans

By Susan Heavey and Ted Hesson

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump listens to a question as he answers reporters questions during a news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump was on the defensive on Sunday over what critics said was a "pattern" of disrespect towards the U.S. military following media reports that he had disparaged fallen veterans, the fallout from which could harm his campaign for re-election on Nov. 3.

 

Democratic and Republican opponents alike over the weekend seized on the reports - which said that Trump had called U.S. soldiers buried in Europe "losers" - to attack his record on the military on news shows and in political ads.

 

"It breaks your heart," U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of the reported comments in an interview on MSNBC on Sunday.

 

The furor over the Sept. 3 report in The Atlantic could undermine Trump's re-election message that he would maintain law and order amid nationwide protests, and that he strongly supports U.S. military personnel and their families -- a key Republican constituency which largely backed Trump in 2016.

 

Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, a Republican, told ABC's "This Week" that the remarks, if true, were "despicable."

 

Hagel said the reports were "credible" because they were consistent with previous public remarks Trump had made denigrating military personnel, including former U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-mattis-withdrawal/trump-takes-parting-shot-at-mattis-and-his-view-of-u-s-allies-idUSKCN1ON0QX as well as the late U.S. Senator John McCain https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-mccain/mccains-widow-daughter-punch-back-at-trumps-twitter-tirade-idUSKCN1R12RG.

 

"It will resonate" with the military, he added.

 

Retired U.S. Army Colonel Jeff McCausland wrote in an NBC News op-ed on Sunday that Trump over the years had demonstrated "a clear pattern of disrespect toward the military."

 

The Atlantic reported that Trump made the disparaging remarks after canceling a visit to an American cemetery during a November 2018 trip to France, an account the president denied on Thursday and on Sunday said was "disinformation."

 

"They will say anything, like their recent lies about me and the Military, and hope that it sticks," he tweeted, referring to the media and the Democratic Party, whose nominee Joe Biden is vying for the presidency in November.

 

The Atlantic has stood by its report, which cited four unnamed people with firsthand knowledge of the matter and which was later confirmed by several other media outlets.

 

Bloomberg on Sunday reported that Trump spent the extra free time in Paris selecting artwork to ship from the U.S. ambassador's residence to the White House. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the Bloomberg report.

 

Former Vice President Biden, whose late son Beau served in Iraq, on Sunday capitalized upon the uproar to highlight his own record of military support with an advertisement aimed at areas with large numbers of military personnel in battleground states.

 

The ad will air nationwide on Sunday night during cable television news programs and on Facebook and Instagram throughout the week as part of a broader $47 million campaign, a spokesman told Reuters on Sunday.

 

The Lincoln Project, a prominent Republican-backed group opposing Trump’s re-election, on Saturday released a new video attacking the president's comments and broader record on the military. Trump has never served and avoided the draft for the Vietnam war, citing bone spurs in his feet.

 

"He's a draft-dodger in chief who despises the men and women he supposedly leads. He insults their deaths and injuries with his contempt,” it said.

 

MILITARY SPENDING

Trump has repeatedly touted his administration's spending on the military while also moving to pull American troops out of conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan, as well as out of allied countries such as Germany.

 

More recently, he has said he would block the Pentagon's plan to cut military healthcare by $2.2 billion and reverse its plan to close the Stars and Stripes military newspaper.

 

Trump's core voters have in the past forgiven him for derisive comments on McCain and other issues, but there are signs that support among active-duty military personnel for their commander-in-chief may be slipping.

 

A Military Times poll of more than 1,000 active-duty service members taken late July to early August and published last week, before the latest reports, showed waning support for Trump and a slight preference for Biden.

 

Several top administration officials, including U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, have rallied to Trump's defense as the controversy has grown in recent days.

 

On Sunday, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie told CNN's "State of the Union" that he had never heard the president disparage the military or veterans. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters at the White House that Trump supported the military "100%."

 

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Jeff Mason and Ted Hesson; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Sonya Hepinstall)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-09-07

 

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You can’t defend the indefensible it is what it is he is what he is 

This all might have been believable 3-4-5 years ago, but after all the obviously biased and hysterical dog poo reporting over the last few years from legacy media, nobody of any significance is gonna be duped and no minds will be changed. 
 

The same haters are gonna still hate, they’ve been doing it for years now. 

Trump denigrates everyone except his support base, no reason to believe veterans should be exempt from his winner/loser thought process.

His support base is blissfully unaware he probably regards them as losers too.

 

BS story. Four anonymous sources. So far, ten named sources have called BS, including John Bolton.

1 minute ago, MajarTheLion said:

BS story. Four anonymous sources. So far, ten named sources have called BS, including John Bolton.

I don't count anything john bolton says.

1 minute ago, scorecard said:

I don't count anything john bolton says.

But you’ll count what unknown and anonymous people said..... 

3 minutes ago, scorecard said:

I don't count anything john bolton says.

Generally, I agree. But when a Trump hater like Bolton comes to Trump's defense, I take notice.

3 minutes ago, Mama Noodle said:

But you’ll count what unknown and anonymous people said..... 

You are aware that your hero delights in destroying those that criticize disagree or contradict him aren’t you?but hey you are entitled to defend the indefensible lol

7 minutes ago, Mama Noodle said:

But you’ll count what unknown and anonymous people said..... 

 But you often have no hesitation to post many words / many broadly supportive statements of trump which have zero back-up.  

 

Well it was fun while it lasted. But like the Russia collusion fiasco, the Smollett lynching and the Sandmann racist kid it was too good to be true. Not that truth ever played a part in the irrational hatred of Donald Trump.

 

Sky News host Paul Murray says the biggest example of fake news played out in the United States in the last week and leveled unfounded and wrong attacks at President Donald Trump. The left leaning publication, The Atlantic, released an article written by four nameless people who suggested Donald Trump didn’t want to go to a war cemetery in France because those who died in war are “losers” and “suckers”. The unsourced story, with no names and big claims, became mainstream after it was talked about by presidential hopeful Joe Biden, Mr Murray said.

https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6188224532001

 

 If anybody is interested in conclusive proof this is fake news, see 3.34 on this video and you will see hard evidence the trip was cancelled due to bad weather. 

 

 And final proof this is fake news, is witness and Trump hater John Bolton who was actually there at the time this supposed event happened said he did not hear anything like the accusations.

 

Epic fail!

 

3 minutes ago, Tug said:

You are aware that your hero delights in destroying those that criticize disagree or contradict him aren’t you?but hey you are entitled to defend the indefensible lol

Further it's also clear from reports, analysis from several credible psycho-analysts that trump cannot understand/accept anybody who puts themselves less than No 1, and cannot understand/accept anybody who does anything which doesn't positively directly put money / strong benefits in their pocket.

Getting close to election time...there is no depth that Dems will not go to make up character assassination stories...

 

Many Supreme Court Nominees have had to endure countless baseless accusations by Dems trying to derail their nomination. 

 

Total lack of honesty and integrity!

 

Shameful display of dirty politics!

19 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

Getting close to election time...there is no depth that Dems will not go to make up character assassination stories...

 

Many Supreme Court Nominees have had to endure countless baseless accusations by Dems trying to derail their nomination. 

 

Total lack of honesty and integrity!

 

Shameful display of dirty politics!

Ahhhh that pesky track record trump has lol trump is the master of slander and innuendo it’s been his whole strategy all along now he’s kicking and whining lol it’s on record remarks about McCain duckworth and other gold star family’s I think old president scofflaw is reaping what he has sown I’m sure the dems have lots more to be released when needed

1 hour ago, Tug said:

You are aware that your hero delights in destroying those that criticize disagree or contradict him aren’t you?

Im well aware, but that’s not evidence of trump insulting dead troops for no reason, as reported. 

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

 But you often have no hesitation to post many words / many broadly supportive statements of trump which have zero back-up.  

Sonething like 10 real live people are on record to say he didn’t do it......

He is certainly behaving like someone who has been caught in a lie.  He NEVER has come forth with the confidence of someone who is secure that the truth will vindicate him.  But I still stay this is just another sideshow.  When Russia and Putin come up he becomes silent, in a most uncharacteristic way.  I'd say that's the center-ring attraction. tick tick tick Donnie...

I'm waiting for Kelly to weigh in.  Maybe he's saving it for mid-October.  Those last two weeks before the election are 'gunna be sumpfin.'

 

 

 

30 minutes ago, Tug said:

Ahhhh that pesky track record trump has lol trump is the master of slander and innuendo it’s been his whole strategy all along now he’s kicking and whining lol it’s on record remarks about McCain duckworth and other gold star family’s I think old president scofflaw is reaping what he has sown I’m sure the dems have lots more to be released when needed

Neither John McCain, Tammy Duckworth, nor any other veteran or "Gold Star Families" are exempt from criticism. It that were the case, my veteran status would come in quite handy here.

1 hour ago, Mama Noodle said:

nobody of any significance is gonna be duped and no minds will be changed. 

The ones who have been duped are Trumps lowly educated, redneck base and yes, it will be hard to change their minds! 

13 minutes ago, Mama Noodle said:

Something like 10 real live people are on record to say he didn’t do it......

Name them!

7 minutes ago, MajarTheLion said:

 

Neither John McCain, Tammy Duckworth, nor any other veteran or "Gold Star Families" are exempt from criticism. It that were the case, my veteran status would come in quite handy here.

 

Of course, they like all citizens, are not exempt from valid criticism, that goes without saying.

 

It's also true that both of the people you mention are absolutely entitled to quite some respect, and that means respect from every citizen.

 

 

1 hour ago, Puchaiyank said:

Getting close to election time...there is no depth that Dems will not go to make up character assassination stories...

 

Many Supreme Court Nominees have had to endure countless baseless accusations by Dems trying to derail their nomination. 

 

Total lack of honesty and integrity!

 

Shameful display of dirty politics!

While Donald swears to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth??? The greatest BSer in the history of mankind! The man has no shame!

26 minutes ago, Mama Noodle said:

Sonething like 10 real live people are on record to say he didn’t do it......

There is a BIG difference between people saying they didn't hear it and it not being said.   

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Far left-wing publication, The Atlantic,

  ...      Atlantic is moderate right and too neoconservative for my tastes but hey, if that is how you need to spin it. Better get in practice because;
 

Quote

The Atlantic's editor-in-chief says his story about Trump calling vets 'losers' is just the beginning

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/06/media/jeffrey-goldberg-atlantic-trump-reliable-sources/index.html

 

The Atlantic editor is smart enough to realize Trump and his minions will attack in anyway they can, so if you are going to go against, better be loaded for bear. 

 

 

17 minutes ago, MajarTheLion said:

 

Neither John McCain, Tammy Duckworth, nor any other veteran or "Gold Star Families" are exempt from criticism. It that were the case, my veteran status would come in quite handy here.

Trump doesent criticisze he degenerates degrades lies try’s to humiliate and try’s to destroy another’s life there’s a difference and that is another reason that his track record that lends more credence to the accusations you reap what you sow he is what he is

18 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

The ones who have been duped are Trumps lowly educated, redneck base and yes, it will be hard to change their minds! 

Winning hearts and minds I see. 

 

Trump has been, for the duration of his presidency, fixated on staging military parades, but only of a certain sort. In a 2018 White House planning meeting for such an event, Trump asked his staff not to include wounded veterans, on grounds that spectators would feel uncomfortable in the presence of amputees. “Nobody wants to see that,” he said.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/trump-americans-who-died-at-war-are-losers-and-suckers/615997/

 

 

Can't get enough of Senator Duckworth laying into trump calling him the  "Coward-in-Chief".

 

Half-expected trump's retort to be that he prefers his war heroes with legs.

 

 

 

This Atlantic article is said to be "just the tip of the iceberg", so stock up on popcorn and deflections.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 7, 20205 yr by mtls2005

3 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Trump has been, for the duration of his presidency, fixated on staging military parades, but only of a certain sort. In a 2018 White House planning meeting for such an event, Trump asked his staff not to include wounded veterans, on grounds that spectators would feel uncomfortable in the presence of amputees. “Nobody wants to see that,” he said.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/trump-americans-who-died-at-war-are-losers-and-suckers/615997/

 

 

Can't get enough of Senator Duckworth laying into trump calling him the  "Coward-in-Chief".

 

Half-expected trump's retort to be that he prefers his war heroes with legs.

 

 

 

This Atlantic article is said to be "just the tip of the iceberg", so stock up on popcorn and deflections.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll bet old trump is freaking out good I’m sure there’s lots of dirt at the ready after all trump has no filter and no self restraint it’s going to be an interesting 2 months!!

Trump denies saying suckers and losers by calling those against him suckers and losers.

30 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

While Donald swears to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth??? The greatest BSer in the history of mankind! The man has no shame!

Politics is a liars sport...Dems take everything to the toilet level...