Trump’s former chief of staff confirms he called fallen soldiers ‘losers’

Trump’s former chief of staff confirms he called fallen soldiers ‘losers’

October 03, 2023 04:03 AM

The longest-serving White House chief of staff under Donald Trump confirmed a previous report about the former president in a scathing rebuke of “a person that has no idea what America stands for.”

More than three years after an Atlantic article cited four sources claiming Trump called dead soldiers “losers” and dead Marines “suckers,” John Kelly, who served under Trump from July 2017 to January 2019, supported the reporting in a statement to CNN.

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“What can I add that has not already been said?” Kelly told the outlet when asked if he had comments about his former boss. “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.'”

“A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France,” he continued.

The Trump White House denied the report shortly after it was released in September 2020, saying it was “false” and had “no basis in fact.” But Kelly was firm in his comments, which, given Trump’s propensity for social media attacks, are likely to reignite the feud between the two men whose quarrels were well publicized after Kelly departed his post.

“A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women,” Kelly added. “A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who cavalierly suggests that a selfless warrior who has served his country for 40 years in peacetime and war should lose his life for treason – in expectation that someone will take action. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.”

“There is nothing more that can be said,” Kelly concluded. “God help us.”

The Atlantic article centered on a visit in 2018 where Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France, which honors American soldiers killed during World War I. Among many reported comments seen as disrespectful, Trump allegedly told senior staff members on the morning of the planned visit, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.”

Kelly’s comments come in the wake of Trump’s public feud with the ex-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Gen. Mark Milley, who Trump said committed a “treasonous act” by telling his Chinese counterpart in the final months of the Trump administration that the U.S. would not suddenly attack China. Trump suggested death would be an appropriate punishment for Milley’s action.

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Trump currently holds a commanding lead over his Republican counterparts in polling before the Republican 2024 primary. Recent polls also suggest Trump is favored over President Joe Biden, long assumed to be the Democratic nominee in next year’s general election.

Perhaps of more concern to Trump than his Republican challengers and the sitting president mired in controversy is the list of legal cases he faces, not just threatening his business empire but also his ability to stay behind bars.

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