A shocking piece from the Atlantic's Jeffery Goldberg published Thursday night reported the level of apathy and even disdain President Donald Trump holds for prisoners of war and soldiers who died while fighting on behalf of the United States.
The report says that Trump, on a visit to France, declined to attend a memorial ceremony with other world leaders for fallen World War I soldiers who perished in the Battle of Belleau Wood. Trump reportedly called them "suckers" and "losers" for dying in battle.
Amidst a slew of other damning claims, the piece also reports what the President said in the aftermath of the late Senator John McCain's death.
During the 2016 campaign, Trump infamously claimed McCain—who spent five years in a POW camp—wasn't a war hero because "he was captured."
McCain grew increasingly critical of Trump as the latter ascended to the Presidency, and any bridge between the two men burned in 2017, when McCain cast the deciding vote to strike down Trump's efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act—the defining legislation of McCain's onetime opponent, former President Barack Obama.
Americans were outraged in 2018 when the White House abruptly raised flags to full staff only two days after McCain's death. It lowered them again until the day of internment after national outcry.
The Atlantic's report offers new context to that infamous moment, claiming that Trump was irate to see flags lowered to half staff in McCain's honor, reportedly saying:
"What the f--k are we doing that for? Guy was a f--king loser."
After a fierce denial by the White House, Trump took to Twitter to swear he'd never called John McCain a loser, while also taking credit for McCain's funeral, to which he wasn't invited.
I was never a big fan of John McCain, disagreed with him on many things including ridiculous endless wars and the lack of success he had in dealing with the VA and our great Vets, but the lowering of our Nations American Flags, and the first class funeral he was given by our....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2020
..Country, had to be approved by me, as President, & I did so without hesitation or complaint. Quite the contrary, I felt it was well deserved. I even sent Air Force One to bring his body, in casket, from Arizona to Washington. It was my honor to do so. Also, I never called..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2020
....John a loser and swear on whatever, or whoever, I was asked to swear on, that I never called our great fallen soldiers anything other than HEROES. This is more made up Fake News given by disgusting & jealous failures in a disgraceful attempt to influence the 2020 Election!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2020
There's just one thing: Trump definitely called John McCain a loser.
Trump made the comments in 2015 at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa while chastising McCain for losing the presidency to Obama in 2008.
Watch below.
Trump tonight: "I never called John a loser"
Video: Trump calling John McCain a loser pic.twitter.com/CKOBsVoBuo https://t.co/sa2lncSJcm
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) September 4, 2020
Trump said:
"He lost. He let us down, but, y'know he lost, so I never liked him as much after that, cause I don't like losers."
What's more, Trump tweeted a link to an article quoting him on the statement shortly after he said it.
Via @fitsnews: “Donald Trump: John McCain Is 'A Loser'" https://t.co/sgiETvdUqi
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2015
The tweet soon resurfaced, detracting even more credibility from Trump's denial.
Dear @realDonaldTrump,
Is this tweet of yours from 2015 fake news?
You calling a veteran, a war hero and POW a "loser"
This is your tweet Donald Trump. YOUR TWEET.
What's your BS spin about this going to be?
YOU used the EXACT same disgraceful language here. https://t.co/UTtMWjcwZw
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) September 4, 2020
“I never called John McCain a loser." pic.twitter.com/NdaxPnIRPd
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) September 4, 2020
Imagine if the next person to interview Trump just said very simply:
“Mr President, you said you'd swear on anything that you never called John McCain a loser. And yet in 2015 you tweeted out that you had called John McCain quote 'a loser'. So you lied to us, didn't you?" https://t.co/yatsmfM7F0
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) September 4, 2020
"Just remember, what you are seeing and what you are reading is not what's happening."- DJT #PrevaricatorPrez https://t.co/OeVPbsxbdb
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) September 4, 2020
So @realDonaldTrump lies that he never called @SenJohnMcCain a loser. https://t.co/EVQ0vnsD0T
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) September 4, 2020
He literally just tweeted that he never called John McCain a loser. And we're supposed to believe the rest of his denial? https://t.co/O63EFKb4wv
— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) September 4, 2020
Look, people, he never called John McCain a lo oh wait a sec https://t.co/2jHmLojOj9
— Benjamin Dreyer (@BCDreyer) September 4, 2020
Others said that the character Trump's displayed in the years since his campaign is enough confirmation of the Atlantic's reporting, which was also independently confirmed by the Associated Press and the Washington Post.
We all know the Atlantic story is true.
— David Jolly (@DavidJollyFL) September 4, 2020
We've all seen it, @PressSec - his “POWs aren't heroes" his attacks on Gold Star families, his ignoring the Russian bounties, his abandoning our allies to be slaughtered in Syria. We all know the Atlantic story is true because he has shown his contempt for real heroes for years.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) September 4, 2020
The Atlantic story is true because we know Trump insults Gold Star families, widows & military families ALL OF THE TIME. #TrumpHatestheMilitary https://t.co/4tzCa1DwpK
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) September 4, 2020
The argument over what Trump said in private need not obscure that he has said similar things in public, notably here. The issue raised by the Atlantic is not whether Trump says such things. That is known. It's merely how many variations he has said and how often. https://t.co/kox2T7lxda
— Steve Inskeep (@NPRinskeep) September 4, 2020
In addition to calling McCain a loser, Trump also called the former Senator a "dummy."
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