President Donald Trump was soundly criticized after exclaiming during a meeting with wounded soldiers at the White House that it was "pretty good" and "amazing" that they "got hit," prompting many to call out his disrespect for the troops.
While speaking on Thursday to a group of injured American veterans who were stationed at a "pretty tough area in the Arghandab River Valley" of Afghanistan, Trump—whose administration has already made significant cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs—said:
"So you guys got hit, huh? Pretty good. You got hit. Amazing."
After a woman with the group told Trump that over half of their unit had been awarded the Purple Heart for their service, Trump replied:
"You deserve it. You deserve that and more. We appreciate it so much. Really brave brilliant people. Thank you so much."
You can hear what Trump said in the video below.
Critics were stunned by Trump's choice of words and swiftly spoke out against him.
Trump has a history of disrespecting members of the military, particularly, as he put it, the "suckers and losers" who die in combat.
A 2020 report from The Atlantic revealed that Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, near Paris, in 2018. At the time, four individuals with direct knowledge of the situation said that Trump declined the visit due to concerns about his hair being affected by the rain and a lack of importance placed on honoring American war dead.
During discussions with senior staff members on the morning of the planned visit, Trump questioned the necessity of visiting the cemetery, referring to it as "filled with losers." Additionally, on the same trip, he reportedly referred to the over 1,800 marines who perished at Belleau Wood as "suckers" for losing their lives.
Perhaps most notably, Trump mocked the late Arizona Senator John McCain's injuries that came from his five and a half years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam from 1967 to 1973 and resulted in his inability to move his arms above his head for the rest of his life.
In 2015, Trump, then a presidential candidate, infamously said that McCain was "not a war hero" because "he was captured" and "I like people who weren’t captured."
McCain, in response, mocked Trump's multiple draft deferments, pointing to wealthy Americans who were able to get out of being drafted into service. During his lifetime, McCain was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit, a Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his military service.
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