Donald Trump. Surely this circus won’t last four years? Photo: Gage Skidmore-Flickr
Donald Trump’s alleged comments to the Gold Star family of Sgt. La David T. Johnson, that he “knew what he signed up for,” is an example of Trump’s transparent hypocrisy about patriotism, especially as it related to his histrionics about respect for the flag and military.
We’ve heard a lot of bloviating crap recently as it relates to Trump’s race-baiting attacks against Black NFL players.
Trump’s insensitive handling of the Gold Star family of Sgt. Johnson, exposes him as what we already know him to be: an opportunistic fraud—who represents “a clear and present danger” to the world. Is speaks volumes when it’s a Republican senator, Bob Corker, who says its Donald Trump not North Korea’s Kim Jong who could plunge us into World War III.
In this latest Trump controversy, we’re told by Sgt. Johnson’s family, and by Florida Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson, that Trump acted in an insensitive manner during a condolence call he made to the family after Sgt. Johnson’s death. Johnson was killed during an ambush, reportedly by ISIL affiliates in the African country of Niger, on Oct. 4. Sgt. Johnson, 25, died leaving two children behind along with his wife, Myeshia, who is currently pregnant.
Congresswoman Wilson was with the family when Trump called and was outraged by what she heard over the speaker-phone. She apparently wanted to take the phone and “cuss out” Trump.
The Congresswoman said Trump behaved bizarrely and “was almost like joking. He said, ‘Well I guess you knew—something to the effect that he knew what he was getting into when he signed up, but I guess it hurts anyway.’ You know, just matter-of-factly, that this is what happens, anyone who is signing up for military duty is signing up to die. That’s the way we interpreted it. It was horrible. It was insensitive. It was absolutely crazy, unnecessary. I was livid.”
Congressman Wilson said the Johnson family was “astonished” by Trump’s insensitivity which further upset the grieving family, including Johnson’s wife who was “crying the whole time.” After the call ended, Wilson said the slain sergeant’s wife realized Trump “didn’t even know his name. That’s the hurting part.”
In a galling irony, this pathological liar of a president, said Congresswoman Wilson was “fabricating” the incident. He said “I didn’t say what that congresswoman said. Didn’t say it at all.”
Trump claimed he had a “very nice” conversation with Johnson’s widow “who sounded like a lovely woman.” Was Trump also confused about which family member he was talking to?
Congresswoman Wilson alluded to this when she tweeted “I still stand by my account of the call b/t @realDonaldTrump and Myesha Johnson. That is her name, Mr. Trump. Not “the woman” or “the wife.”
Sergeant Johnson’s mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, has verified Trump is the liar.
“President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband,” Jones-Johnson said, in a statement to the Washington Post.
Should there even be a dispute about who is lying here?
When Trump apparently couldn’t even remember that the family name is Johnson—not the most difficult name to remember—wasn’t that proof enough of who was lying? And when he said, “the woman” and “the wife,” didn’t that suggest he wasn’t even sure what relative he was talking too?
Congress could make up for this ugly incident by issuing a proper condolence and even apology to the Johnson family. Who knows what Trump has told other grieving families.
Trump’s insensitivity should surprise no sensible person. Haven’t we seen enough of his obnoxious behavior before?
Last November, Trump was recorded mimicking and mocking New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who suffers from a congenital condition called arthrogryposis, which causes contraction of the joints, as well as neurological and muscle disease. The attack on Kovaleski was despicably disrespectful.
Lately, we heard a lot of grandstanding rhetoric about respect for the flag and anthem. Trump has engaged in a race-baiting attack on Black NFL players to deflect from the ongoing train wreck of his presidency. Racial division and bigotry is his main trump-card.
We should remind Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and the Republicans—along with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones—that Colin Kaepernick and Black NFL players made it clear what they were protesting: police brutality and racist injustice even towards African Americans who serve this country.
Are any of these people aware that Walter Scott, who was killed by Michael Slager, in South Carolina, once served in the Coast Guard? Do they know about the Freddie Gray-like story of U.S. Army veteran Elliott Williams who was paralyzed by police in Oklahoma—and was left, for five days, to die on a jail floor in his own urine and feces?
How about 68-year-old Marine Kenneth Chamberlain, who was killed in his own home by police in White Plains, New York?
The president pretends to care about military servicemen when he is using chicanery to inflame racism with this phony flag controversy because he’s not able to function as president. While he was railing about respect for the military and attacking Black NFL players, he was ignoring the devastation Hurricane Maria caused in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Did anyone tell Trump the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, relative to their population size, rate high in the nation regarding those receiving military medals for service to America?
For example, in March of 2014, President Barack Obama awarded 24 U.S. Army veterans Medals of Honor for valor in World War II, the Korean War, and in the Vietnam War. Four of these medals went to Puerto Ricans. The four are: Staff Sgt. Felix M. Conde-Falcon, Master Sgt. Juan E. Negron, Pvt. Demensio Rivera and Pvt. Miguel A. Vera.
And, in April 2016, five U.S. Virgin Islanders were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their service during the Korean War. They are: Jerome Ferdinand, Jerome Jackson, Aubrey Nelthropp, Carl Thomas, and Leroy Woodrup. They all served with the 65th Army Infantry Regiment—known as the “Borinqueneers,” because they fought alongside their Puerto Rican compatriots.
Was Trump mindful of this history of military service while he was tweeting to Puerto Ricans that “We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders…in P.R. forever”?
What kind of brain even comes up with something like that? A brain that operates in a complete vacuum.
Were the Gold Star families and veterans in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands anything more than an afterthought to this demagogue when he was busy tweeting attacks against NFL players? Shouldn’t Trump have been marshalling federal resources to the islands instead of childishly disinviting Steph Curry from a White House event Curry said he wasn’t attending?
This charlatan of a president who claims to be outraged about disrespect for the flag, has, time and again, disrespected military families. He disrespected the Gold Star Family of Humayun Khan—who was killed in Iraq, in 2004—making the erroneous claim that this soldier’s mother was not being allowed to speak, during last year’s Democratic Convention. He insinuated it was because of the family’s Muslim faith.
He has also, repeatedly, attacked Senator John McCain. In 2015, he denigrated McCain for being a captured POW saying “He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
This coming from a draft-dodger.
And even though Senator McCain is fighting what appears to be terminal brain cancer, Trump still attacks him. Most likely, because he can’t forgive McCain for sinking the “skinny repeal” healthcare bill.
Trump is like a lot of other phony patriots who give lip-service to respect and “support for our troops.” If Trump really had any respect for veterans, he should be doing something to find housing for the 50,000 veterans who have no homes to go to when night falls; 1.4 million more are equally at risk of homelessness. If he cared about veterans, he would be trying to stop the 22 veterans who commit suicide daily.
Trump’s treatment of Sgt. Johnson’s family exposes him as nothing more than an insensitive jerk that most of America knows him to be. Another important question: why did it take two days to retrieve the body of Sgt. Johnson?
