Donald Trump denies disrespecting US troops
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Washington — US President Donald Trump was on the defensive on Sunday over what critics said was a “pattern” of disrespect towards the US military following media reports that he had disparaged fallen veterans, the fallout from which could harm his campaign for re-election on November 3.
Democratic and Republican opponents alike at the weekend seized on the reports — which said that Trump had called US soldiers buried in Europe “losers” — to attack his record on the military on news shows and in political ads.
Former secretary of defence 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 US defence secretary James Mattis, as well as the late US senator John McCain.
“It will resonate” with the military, he added.
The furore over the September 3 report in The Atlantic could undermine Trump’s re-election message that he would maintain “law and order”, and that he strongly supports US military personnel and their families — a key Republican constituency, which largely backed Trump in 2016.
Trump’s rival in November, former vice-president Joe Biden, like Trump, did not serve in the military, but his late son, Beau, did a one-year tour in Iraq as a National Guard captain.
Biden sought to capitalise upon the uproar on Sunday by highlighting his own record of support for the armed forces with an advertisement aimed at areas in battleground states with large numbers of military personnel.
A Biden campaign spokesperson said the advert, which debuted earlier in 2020, would be relaunched nationwide during cable television news programmes on Sunday night and would also feature on Facebook and Instagram throughout the week as part of a broader $47m campaign.
The Lincoln Project, a prominent Republican-backed group opposing Trump’s re-election, released a video on Saturday attacking the president's comments and broader record on the military. Trump 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.
Biden also did not serve in Vietnam, receiving five student draft deferments and eventually being disqualified from military service because of asthma as a teenager, according to records released by aides to the ...
Democratic and Republican opponents alike at the weekend seized on the reports — which said that Trump had called US soldiers buried in Europe “losers” — to attack his record on the military on news shows and in political ads.
Former secretary of defence 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 US defence secretary James Mattis, as well as the late US senator John McCain.
“It will resonate” with the military, he added.
The furore over the September 3 report in The Atlantic could undermine Trump’s re-election message that he would maintain “law and order”, and that he strongly supports US military personnel and their families — a key Republican constituency, which largely backed Trump in 2016.
Trump’s rival in November, former vice-president Joe Biden, like Trump, did not serve in the military, but his late son, Beau, did a one-year tour in Iraq as a National Guard captain.
Biden sought to capitalise upon the uproar on Sunday by highlighting his own record of support for the armed forces with an advertisement aimed at areas in battleground states with large numbers of military personnel.
A Biden campaign spokesperson said the advert, which debuted earlier in 2020, would be relaunched nationwide during cable television news programmes on Sunday night and would also feature on Facebook and Instagram throughout the week as part of a broader $47m campaign.
The Lincoln Project, a prominent Republican-backed group opposing Trump’s re-election, released a video on Saturday attacking the president's comments and broader record on the military. Trump 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.
Biden also did not serve in Vietnam, receiving five student draft deferments and eventually being disqualified from military service because of asthma as a teenager, according to records released by aides to the ...