I was not surprised when I learned that Fox News was the only network defending Trump for what was printed in the Atlantic. The story has dominated political discussions all day Friday as Republicans expressed skepticism of the anonymous sources behind the story and Democrats expressed outrage over remarks that sound very familiar – based on Trump’s past disparagement of military veterans, including the late Sen. John McCain,
However, Trump has vehemently and repeatedly denied the allegations, calling it a “fake story, reports The Hill. The administration even produced “on the record” denials from current administration officials who were traveling with the president when the remarks were reportedly made.
“It was a totally fake story, and that was confirmed by many people that were actually there,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday. “It was a terrible thing that somebody could say the kind of things — especially to me because I have done more for the military than almost anybody else.”
Two former sr Trump admin officials confirm .@JeffreyGoldberg reporting that President Trump disparaged veterans and did not want to drive to honor American war dead at Aisne-Marne Cemetery outside Paris.
— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) September 4, 2020
Then, out of the shadows steps Fox News’ National Security correspondent, Jennifer Griffin. In a lengthy Twitter thread, she wrote that two former senior Trump administration officials had indeed confirmed the president’s remarks to her, reports Business Insider.
Trump made the comments during a 2018 visit to Paris to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, according to The Atlantic. Griffin said one of her sources told her the president was in a foul mood and asked why he had to visit two cemeteries.
But that is not all Griffin learned. Talking about Trump’s desire to have a big military parade on the Fourth of July, like the Bastille Day parade he witnessed in France in 2017, Trump didn’t want wounded warriors in his parade. “The President said regarding the inclusion of “wounded guys” “that’s not a good look” “Americans don’t like that,” the source confirmed.
And Griffin also learned from her sources that Trump “just hated” Sen. John McCain.
Regarding McCain, “The President just hated John McCain. He always asked, 'Why do you see him as a hero?” Two sources confirmed the President did not want flags lowered but others in the White House ordered them at half mast. There was a stand off and then the President relented.
— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) September 4, 2020
As for Trump’s question to retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly in 2017, while on a visit to Arlington Cemetary, it is all true that Trump, standing in front of the grave of Kelly’s son with the General, turned to him and asked, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”
People close to the retired general said that he first thought the president was awkwardly commenting on the selflessness of America’s service members, particularly those who laid down their lives, but later came to believe that Trump did not understand sacrificing for others.
#Suckers & #Losers . They were cool in my book, though. pic.twitter.com/9lwKbXXL2w
— Mikey (@MikeyMike617) September 5, 2020
Phillip Carter, a professor who is a US Army veteran, responded to the Atlantic article on Twitter, writing that a president who asked what Trump was said to have asked in a place like Arlington was not suited to be commander in chief.
Eugene Vindman: I’m a loser, my wife is a loser, my twin brother @AVindman is a loser. We are a family of public servant suckers… #losers #HereRightMatters I salute those “losers and suckers” that served and those that gave their last full measure of devotion. pic.twitter.com/tYPOZ1KsXS
— Squeezy the Python #wearamask (@PensionPython) September 5, 2020
