One Trump comment amid the torrent
“And they’re rated equal!”
Good morning: It’s Friday, August 16. So much happens in the news — and Donald Trump says so many inflammatory things — that a lot of stray comments fly by and don’t always get the attention they would otherwise. This morning, I wanted to zero in on one of them, and offer some broader context. Let’s dive in:
One of Joe Biden’s stronger moments in his disaster of a presidential debate with Donald Trump in June came when discussing Trump’s alleged denigration of veterans.
“I was recently in France for D-Day, and I spoke about those heroes that died. I went to the World War II cemetery — World War I cemetery he refused to go to. He was standing with his four-star general, and he told him, he said, I don’t want to go in there because they’re a bunch of losers and suckers,” Biden said, citing a 2020 report by The Atlantic.
“My son was not a loser,” Biden continued, the emotion clear in his voice. “He was not a sucker. You’re the sucker. You’re the loser.”
At that debate and in other instances, Trump has denied the report, which claims that he made the comment about those buried at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France, the resting place of more than 2,200 American soldiers who lost their lives in World War I.
The same Atlantic report also claims that Trump said at another military cemetery, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”; that he said about a top Marine Corps general, “That guy is smart. Why did he join the military?”; that he once asked his staff not to include wounded veterans at an event, saying “nobody wants to see that”; and that he called George H.W. Bush and John McCain “losers” because the former’s plane was shot down by the Japanese in World War II and the latter was taken prisoner of war in Vietnam.
I do not know if the episodes reported by The Atlantic are true. Several Trump advisers have joined their boss in issuing denials. On the other hand, retired Marine Corps general John Kelly, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, confirmed many of them (including the “suckers and losers” comment) to CNN last year. None of it is on tape; it comes down to who you trust.
However, for evidence of Trump’s casual dismissal of veterans, it isn’t necessary to cite disputed comments. You can also simply look at the public record, including a comment made by Trump last night.
Trump was at a campaign event on antisemitism on Thursday when he turned to discuss Miriam Adelson, the Republican megadonor and widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. Here’s what he said:
I watched Sheldon sitting so proud in the White House when we gave Miriam the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian. It’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor, but civilian version. It’s actually much better because everyone [who] gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead. She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman. And they’re rated equal!
The Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Medal of Honor are, indeed, the two highest honors that can be bestowed on an American (along with the Congressional Gold Medal). The former is a civilian honor that can be given to anyone who has made “an especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” Recent recipients include Denzel Washington, Simone Biles, Al Gore, and Michael Bloomberg.
The Medal of Honor is awarded to American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians, and coast guardsmen who have shown “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty” during their time in the Armed Forces. Recent recipients include retired Army pilot Larry Taylor, who risked his life by flying directly into enemy fire to save four fellow solders in Vietnam, and the late Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, who suffered second and third-degree burns pulling six soldiers out of a burning vehicle in Iraq.
Trump’s dismissal of the sacrifices made by Medal of Honor recipients — “it’s actually much better” to receive the civilian award — continues a long pattern of public comments he has made towards veterans.
Trump rarely says anything once — just as he reportedly called John McCain a “loser” behind closed doors, he did so on tape in 2015, adding: “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.” (He also made a similar comment as far back as 1999.) Similarly, he has previously made comments reminiscent of what he said about the Medal of Honor last night, saying in January that its recipients are “usually gone or in bad shape” and asking in June if a certain recipient was injured. “Because that’s unusual,” he added. “The Medal of Honor guys usually are in pretty rough shape.”
The former president, who received five draft deferments during Vietnam, has also repeatedly compared his own actions to the sacrifices made by veterans. “If you’re young, and in this era, and if you have any guilt about not having gone to Vietnam, we have our own Vietnam. It’s called the dating game,” Trump said in 1993, comparing the fear of contracting an STD to the experience of a soldier in battle.
Along those same lines, he has mused about giving himself the Medal of Honor — the same award he mocked last night — both in 2019 and 2022.
“As president, I wanted to give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor, but they wouldn’t let me do it,” he said at a conservative event in 2022, to laughter. “They wouldn’t let me do it. I said, I’m gonna give myself the Congressional Medal of Honor, I’ve always wanted that. But they wouldn’t let me do that. They said that would be inappropriate. I said OK.”
More news to know
WaPo: Qatar urges Iran to hold off attack on Israel as cease-fire talks show promise
WSJ: Harris to Call for Expanded Child Tax Credit, 3 Million New Housing Units
NYT: Secret Service Pulls From Biden’s Protective Team to Guard Trump
NBC: Local Georgia officials equip election workers with ‘panic buttons’ to combat rising threats
The day ahead
President Biden will sign a proclamation to designate the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument, before leaving for Camp David.
Vice President Harris will hold a campaign event in Morrisville, North Carolina.
Sen. JD Vance will hold a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Former President Trump and Gov. Tim Walz have no events scheduled.
The House and Senate are on recess.
Great reporting here. I’m trying to keep up with it all, so this compilation is very helpful.
As is often the case, you’ve highlighted details that receive less coverage elsewhere. Vets need to know these stories. Well done.