John Kelly in the Oval Office. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
David Smith, The Guardian: Firefights and blowback: Trump’s week of military misadventures
The deaths of four US soldiers killed in Niger were at the centre of a political storm this week. The row, sparked by the president’s remarks, drew in bereaved families, Gen John Kelly, and military veterans
It was a crisp autumnal day in Washington: perfect for an impromptu press conference in the White House rose garden. Reporters hastily gathered to see Donald Trump and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell try to muster a united front. At first all was going swimmingly. Then, not entirely unsurprisingly, the US president tossed a verbal grenade that blew up the week.
Asked why he had not spoken personally about soldiers killed in an ambush in Niger 12 days previously – the deadliest combat incident of his presidency so far – Trump replied peevishly: “If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls – a lot of them didn’t make calls.”
Former attorney general Eric Holder tweeted that it was time for Trump to “stop the damn lying”. Alyssa Mastromonaco, a deputy chief of staff in the Obama administration, went further, tweeting that Trump’s claim was “a fucking lie” and calling the president a “a deranged animal”.
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WNU Editor: President Trump's assertion that most Presidents do not make calls is true, and for good reason as I outlined here .... Should A U.S. President Call A Grieving Family When A Loved One Has Been Killed In Action? (October 19, 2017). But the politicization of Gold Star families has been around for a long time .... Cindy Sheehan comes to my mind during the Bush administration. But using Gold Star families to make a political point definitely reached a new level during the Democrat convention last year when the Khan family used the death of their son to attack then candidate Trump .... resulting now in this very public war between Gold Star families who support President Trump .... and those who do not. So what's the end game? As much as the critics of President Trump would like to think that this very public fight will benefit them, I do not see that happening at all. On the contrary .... I sense that many are not happy that this media and political push to use Gold Star families to score political points has reached the level where it is now, and blaming this trend on President Trump is not convincing many .... myself included.
Hat tip to Fred for the above post.
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