Tim Kaine infuriated by ‘Trump’s disrespect for the military’
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine accused Donald Trump of disrespecting the U.S. military and being woefully underprepared and temperamentally unfit for the role of commander in chief.
During a national security speech Tuesday in Wilmington, N.C., Kaine, a senator from Virginia, said Trump’s conflicting statements about the United States roles in Iraq and Libya reveal a profound ignorance of the Middle East. He also said the real estate magnate appears to value Russian interests over American and has no realistic plans to defeat ISIS.
But Kaine, whose son Nat is an active-duty Marine, said that Trump’s “history of disrespect” for veterans and their families is personally insulting to him. Trump has called the U.S. armed forces “a disaster,” “in shambles” and “going to hell.”
“I don’t know how anybody who’s met with our men and women in uniform could think that much less say it,” he told the audience. “As a military father, Donald Trump’s disrespect for our military absolutely infuriates me.”
Kaine said the reality television star may claim to know everything but lacks the real-world experience to be president and has proposed wildly different strategies for combating terrorism in the Middle East.
“There’s only one thing that’s consistent: how dangerous his ideas and rhetoric actually are,” he said to applause.
To illustrate his point, Kaine criticized Trump’s oft-repeated plan to cut off the Islamic State terrorist group’s income by bombing the oil fields of Iraq and Syria. Kaine said that this would create massive fires that would necessitate sending in contractors and others to put them out, which in turn would require more troops for protection.
“And that doesn’t even take into account the pipelines and refineries we’d have to either build or take over, or the other problems concerning every aspect of his plan after the first day,” he said. “That just doesn’t interest him.”
Kaine said his running mate, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is a “strategic thinker” who pulls together a “top-notch team” and asks team members difficult questions before making a decision. He said this is a stark contrast with Trump, who said, “I alone can fix it” while accepting the Republican nomination.
“He’s even had the hubris to say that his principal adviser is himself,” he said. “So here’s my conclusion: Like every one of the families of the 2 million men and women who serve in our military, whether active duty, guard or reserve, I want a president and commander in chief who knows the world, knows its leaders, knows the strength of our military, knows how to conduct diplomacy and knows how to make a decision to keep America safe.”
To highlight his support within the military, Trump released an open letter Tuesday signed by dozens of retired generals and admirals who urged a “course correction” in U.S. military policy.
