Gold Star dad slams Trump's ability to 'use the English language' after call to widow
Retired colonel, Gold Star father, and Boston University Professor Andrew Bacevich recently offered his take on President Trump’s poorly-received condolence call to Myeshia Johnson, the widow of Army Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed in Niger earlier this month.
In an interview with the Daily Beast, Bacevich noted that Trump’s, "ham-handed efforts to express condolences to the widow of Sgt. Johnson," came from an individual "whose inability to use the English language is really without precedent in American politics."
Bacevich also weighed in on Trump reportedly telling Mrs. Johnson, "he knew what he signed up for."
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"That’s a really stupid thing to say. I think it’s a callous and unfeeling thing to say—even though that it is true," Bacevich told the Daily Beast.
Both President Trump and chief of staff John Kelly stand by the call.
During an October 19 press briefing, Kelly said that the president was trying to express, "that [the deceased soldier’s] a brave man, a fallen hero, he knew what he was getting himself into because he enlisted."
"There's no reason to enlist; he enlisted. And he was where he wanted to be, exactly where he wanted to be, with exactly the people he wanted to be with when his life was taken," Kelly further noted. "That was the message. That was the message that was transmitted."
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Mrs. Johnson describes the exchange differently.
In a recent interview with ABC News' 'Good Morning America,' she recalled that, in addition to the "knew what he signed up for" comment, "I heard [the president] stumbling on trying to remember my husband's name, and that's what hurt me the most, because if my husband is out here fighting for our country and he risked his life for our country, why can't you remember his name?"
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