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Donald Trump was struggling to retain support of active US service members, according to polls, even before last week’s bombshell report that the commander-in-chief referred to fallen and captured US service members as “losers” and “suckers”. But some veterans and military family members remain conflicted.
The Atlantic magazine’s story – in which four sources close to Trump said he cancelled a visit to pay respects at an American military cemetery outside Paris in 2018 because he thought the dead soldiers were “losers” and “suckers” and did not want the rain to mess up his hair – prompted an outpouring of condemnation, and comes less than two months before the 3 November election.
“I recommend all veterans to use their Military pics as a profile pic to let Trump know how many people he has offended by calling fallen soldiers losers and suckers. #NewProfilePics,” army veteran David Weissman, who describes himself as an “apologetic” former Trump supporter, wrote on Twitter last week, in a post that went viral.
Thomas Richardson, a retired member of the Army’s 82nd airborne, told the Associated Press that he was rankled by the reports. “Usually, you don’t choose those kinds of missions. You agree to serve and you agree to go where your assignment is.”
An active-service member stationed at the United States Military Academy at West Point military academy told the Guardian on Monday that the president’s reported comments were not necessarily surprising.
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” they said. “But you don’t get to pick your commander in chief, and I take what he says with a grain of salt.”
Martin Sole
Article URL : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/07/us-veterans-soldiers-divided-trump-war-dead-suckers-losers