Trump Ripped On Twitter After Reportedly Calling War Dead ‘Losers’ And ‘Suckers’
President Donald Trump reportedly dismissed U.S. troops killed in action as “losers” and “suckers,” and even refused to visit a military cemetery to honor the war dead as a result.
Trump has denied the bombshell report in The Atlantic, which was published on Thursday and later confirmed by The Associated Press.
The magazine reported that during a 2018 trip to France, Trump canceled a planned visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, where U.S. war dead from WWI are buried. At the time, he blamed rain; The Atlantic said there was another reason:
“In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, ‘Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.’ In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 Marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ for getting killed.”
Trump also had especially harsh words for the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who in a separate incident he called a “fucking loser.” McCain was captured, imprisoned and tortured for five years during the Vietnam War.
Critics tore into Trump on Twitter over the story:
The president's words about Senator McCain have always said far more about his own character than the Senator's. None of it will ever change what he means to the U.S. Navy, Arizona, our country, or me. We remember him as a hero.
— Captain Mark Kelly (@CaptMarkKelly) September 3, 2020
This. Is. What. Panic. Looks. Like: https://t.co/y4OAzQ5NMZ
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) September 4, 2020
I recommend all veterans to use their Military pics as a profile pic to let Trump know how many people he has offended by calling fallen soldiers losers and suckers. #NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/KPTDXVgoaX
— David Former Trump Supporter Weissman (@davidmweissman) September 4, 2020
Now THIS thread is some top-shelf PANIC. Pure stomach acid and fear. Gorgeous. https://t.co/xc5F6IDu4T
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) September 4, 2020
As a veteran, @realDonaldTrump thinks I was a sucker for enlisting. And had I been killed during my service, I would’ve been a loser. pic.twitter.com/0m59VOlZLg
— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) September 3, 2020
I just got through two years without my Dad a few days ago. The loss is still incredibly painful and raw. No one is more acutely aware of how vile and disgusting Trump has been to my family, it is still hard to understand - America knows who this man is...
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) September 4, 2020
Our commander in chief has no honor & can never understand the sacrifice of millions of men and women that serve our country.
Even in a thousand lifetimes Trump couldn’t come close to matching the honor, courage, & commitment of the men I served with & the men we buried. https://t.co/iGf1mLUElb— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) September 3, 2020
If you remain in the Administration after this story, your legacy will be bonded to Trump’s disgust for our dead and wounded soldiers. Walk out now, or own this forever. https://t.co/c4aLVZqsZR
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) September 4, 2020
Dear @realDonaldTrump: Your dad pulled favors to get you out of military service. But it doesn’t take having served to understand that American servicemembers who died in war are heroes, not losers & suckers. That’s also why we have a national holiday called Memorial Day. Get it? https://t.co/ynov81d1Ri
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) September 3, 2020
Someone is under trump’s skin. Full. Panic. Mode. https://t.co/P2L5CRiR04
— melissa “cancel ALL student debt” byrne (@mcbyrne) September 4, 2020
This is panic. https://t.co/gE4auBjTk6
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 4, 2020
I’m one of the pilots that got shot down. Our Commander-in-Chief thinks that makes me a loser.
He thinks the many friends I lost & soldiers I medevac'd were suckers.
This is disgraceful. @realDonaldTrump is unfit to be Commander-in-Chief.https://t.co/R8IxeRBwoP— MJ Hegar (@mjhegar) September 3, 2020
🇺🇸 That President Trump spends three consecutive tweets to discredit Jeffrey Goldberg’s story in the Atlantic about how he disrespects the military is a pretty solid indicator that Trump knows it is damaging and accurate.
— Michael Knigge (@kniggem) September 4, 2020
This story doesn’t just make me angry. It makes me feel sick. It’s disgusting. It’s an unthinkable betrayal.
What does the President think of our friends and loved ones in Afghanistan tonight?
What does he think of those we’ve lost to suicide?
He hates them. He hates them. https://t.co/aixkEtxrwu— Will Goodwin (@Will_P_Goodwin) September 3, 2020
The Trump campaign is in a complete and total panic mode. Are we going to see the Russians coming to rescue Trump like they did in 2016 after the release of "grab them by the Pu--y" tape, when they immediately released the Wikileaks stuff?#CowardInChief
— Republicans for Joe Biden (@RepsForBiden) September 4, 2020
We all know the Atlantic story is true.
— David Jolly (@DavidJollyFL) September 4, 2020
You come home and you ask yourself, God knows how many times a day: was it worth it? Was our faith and our trust misplaced?
You come home, and you fight & fight to win back your faith in America. You work to make it a little better, however you can.
And then, you see this shit. https://t.co/aKiW2fYLsg— Mike Breen (@M_Breen) September 4, 2020
Have never seen the Trump White House mobilize to deny a story faster and more vigorously than this Atlantic article.
— Blake News (@blakehounshell) September 4, 2020
General Mattis, General Kelly, General Dunford, General Milley, it’s long past time for you to finally spill the beans about Trump—on the record. Voters need to know the truth. You can be important nails in Trump’s political coffin. Silence now is complicity.
— Paul Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff) September 4, 2020
Several large men in uniform have walked up to Trump with tears in their eyes and said “Sir, thank you for calling our war dead losers.”
— SwearOnWhateverOrWhoeverHat (@Popehat) September 4, 2020
Or as Trump would put it, “RINO loser and his loser son.” https://t.co/79KgZis708
— Christopher Moore (@TheAuthorGuy) September 4, 2020
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
