U.S. President Donald Trump has fired back at news that he has ridiculed those killed in the country’s war as “suckers” and “losers,” declaring his main rival, Joe Biden, “disqualified” in the upcoming presidential election. For the role of Commander-in-Chief.
Biden made the remarks Friday that Trump would again deny the allegations reported by Atlantic Magazine and later the Associated Press news agency as “false.”
Voice cracking, Biden told reporters in Delaware “If you know your gut” Trump’s remarks are true, “sadly.”
“In my career, I have never been disappointed with a leader I have worked with, a president or any other leader,” Biden added. “If the article is true – and it appears to be based on other things he says – it’s absolutely damn good. It’s shameful.”
In the Oval Office, Trump said there was no need for an apology because it was a “fake story.”
The allegations, an anonymous source, illustrate several objectionable remarks made by the President to US service members killed and captured during a visit to France in November 2018.
On the morning of a scheduled visit to the Aisne-Morn American Cemetery, Trump told senior staff, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s full of losers.” The White House later said the fog had made the helicopter flight from Paris too dangerous and the visit had been canceled because a 90-minute drive was considered impossible.
In an exclusive conversation with Trump on the same tour, Atlantic claimed that it was a “sucker” to kill more than 1,800 U.S. soldiers who died in battle at Bellywood in 1918.
Speaking at the Oval Office on Friday, Trump condemned ever making such remarks: “It’s the scariest thing anyone can say – and most importantly to me, ‘I did more for the military than anyone else.’
Later, at a news conference, Trump suggested that the source of the story was his former chief, retired Marine General John Kelly. “It could be a guy like John Kelly,” Trump told reporters, adding that his former top aide “could not handle the stress of this job.”
‘You are not patriots’
That denial has been met with skepticism as critics have seized media reports in the past to shed new light on the indecent behavior of U.S. troops and military families.
It features his remarks on the late Arizona Senator John McCain, a decorated Navy officer who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. “He’s not a war hero,” Trump said of McCain in 2015. He also said at the time: “I like people who are not caught.”
In a call to reporters running Biden’s campaign on Friday, Illinois Senator Tommy Duckworth accused Trump of “underestimating the sacrifices of those who showed more courage than he could handle.”
Lt. Col. Duckworth, a retired Army National Guard lieutenant who lost both his legs in the Iraq war, is a leading critic of Trump’s handling of military issues. Duckworth, who knocked out Trump, who is accused of finding injury to avoid serving in the Vietnam War, said he would “take my wheelchair and my titanium legs on Donald Trump’s bone day.”
Khizr Khan, his son, Humayun, killed in action in Iraq in 2004, Call joined Duckworth and said Trump’s “life is a testament to selfishness.”
Khan, Those who drew national attention after criticizing Trump during the 2016 Democracy National Conference said: “The words we say are windows into our souls. So, when Donald Trump called those who put their lives in the service of others as losers, we understood Trump’s spirit.”
Veterans have denied the president’s allegations.
Retired Major General Paul Eaton said in a Twitter video that Trump “disrespected the military on countless occasions”, “you are not patriotic.”
Read Jeff Goldberg’s article in The Atlantic. How can anyone support Trump? pic.twitter.com/xqfnklmCBq
– Major General (retd) Paul Eaton (Paul de Eaton 52) September 4, 2020
VoteWates posted a video online in which the families of six U.S. soldiers who died in the line of duty criticized Trump, declaring that not everyone lost or sucked their children. “You don’t know what sacrifice means,” said one father.
Donald Trump called our fallen forces “suckers” and “losers”.
They may not speak for themselves, but these 6 Gold Star families speak for our fallen.
Here is their powerful message.#GoldStarParentsAgainstTrump #VeteransAgainstTrump pic.twitter.com/ZnbFevqkNR– Votes (ote Votes) September 4, 2020
Roseland Jordan of Al Jazeera, who is reporting from Alexandria, Virginia, where the U.S. is facing charges, said several news organizations have confirmed the allegations made by Trump.
“This story is not far off, because now, many news organizations in Washington have confirmed the same scope and the same quotes as in that story. It includes Fox News, the president’s go-to television news network.”
Jordan referred to Fox News’ national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin’s reporting, saying two former Trump administration officials had confirmed The Atlantic reporting.
According to a former senior Trump administration official: “When the president spoke about the Vietnam War, he said, ‘This is a stupid war, anyone who goes is sucker.’
– Jennifer Griffin (en Griffin FNC) September 4, 2020
‘It never happened’
Trump supporters, meanwhile, went on television networks and social media to defend the president, Foreign Secretary Mike Pompeo told Fox and Friends Friday that he was with the president for the better part of his visit to France.
“I never heard him use the words described in that article,” Pompeo said.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper issued a statement saying “Trump has the utmost respect and admiration for our members of the military, veterans and families” and “fought for higher wages and more funding” for the Armed Forces.
Sarah Hookabee Saunders, White House press secretary during Trump’s visit, said of The Atlantic report: “I’re really there and one of the people in the debate – it never happened.”
These are some of the moments when I saw the President show his heart and how much he respects the selfless and brave men and women in our military. I hated this false attack.
– Sarah Huckabee Saunders (araSarahHuckabee) September 4, 2020
First Lady Melania Trump also defended her husband, releasing a rare public statement saying Trump’s mockery of the U.S. war was “not true” and exploded his reliance on Atlantic anonymous sources.
Vice President Mike Pence said he was not in Paris, but that never happened.
He told CNBC: “The American people are turning a blind eye to this late, anonymous source coming from The Atlantic or elsewhere.
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