Things Trump says...

[GMDino]

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/06/trump-hispanic-heritage-month-event-243542

Quote:Trump jokes: Sometimes Hispanics 'are too tough' but ‘I have to deal with it’


President Donald Trump joked Friday afternoon at a Hispanic Heritage Month event that Latino leaders in the U.S. are sometimes “too tough,” honoring the Hispanic community for its contributions to the nation.



“You teach our children. You lead our churches. You protect our communities and you defend our nation. Among you are leaders in government, faith, and business. Fantastic people in this audience,” Trump said at the White House on Friday. “I know some of them, and believe me, they’re very tough and they’re very smart. Sometimes they’re too tough. But that's OK. I have to deal with it. I have to deal with it. Fantastic people.”

The lighthearted remark elicited a laugh from the crowd gathered in the White House’s State Dining Room. Trump seemed at ease Friday, delivering remarks that included a mixture of foreign and domestic policy seemingly peppered with his trademark off-the-cuff riffs. At one point, the president paused his speech altogether to leave the podium, apparently to shake hands with a Medal of Honor winner seated in the front row.


“Oh, wow, that’s so fantastic. Do you mind if I go up and shake hands? I’ll interrupt our speech, I want to shake hands with somebody,” Trump said, stepping away from the microphone as audience members held up camera phones to snap a photo. “I heard you were here. I’m glad I got to meet you.”


Amid a passage of his remarks section focused on ongoing hurricane recovery efforts, the president repeatedly pronounced Puerto Rico with an exaggerated Hispanic accent, which prompted a laugh from the audience. He also lauded Hispanic-American-owned small businesses, which he said are growing “at a tremendous rate, especially among our Latinas.”


The president’s warm remarks at Friday’s Hispanic Heritage Month event contrasted with what has at times been a rocky relationship between Trump and the Latino community. As a presidential candidate, Trump controversially suggested that a federal judge born of Hispanic descent could not fairly oversee a lawsuit against him, a remark that earned him rebukes from prominent members of his own party.

Trump also marked Cinco de Mayo in 2016 by posting a photo of himself eating a taco bowl in his Trump Tower office and once derided a Miss Universe winner from Venezuela by calling her “Miss Housekeeping.”

His policies, including a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that he has claimed would be paid for by the Mexican government as well as rescinding an Obama-era program that shielded undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation, have met with criticism from many Hispanic leaders and groups.


The president steered clear of those policies Friday, instead promising to support the people of Cuba and Venezuela, who he said are oppressed by their governments. Trump also championed his proposed tax reform package, which he said will feature “the largest tax cuts in the history of our country.”



“Does anybody in this room mind getting a massive tax cut? Does anybody object to paying less taxes? I don't see any hands,” he said. “Hispanic-American businesses and families will prosper like never before.”

[GMDino]

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/10/08/donald-trump-defends-paper-towels-in-puerto-rico-says-stephen-paddock-was-probably-smart-in-bizarre-tv-interview-analysis.html

Quote:Trump defends tossing paper towels to Puerto Rico hurricane victims: Analysis
In a conversation that aired on Christian television station Trinity Broadcasting, Trump said a number of bizarre statements including a defence of the “beautiful, soft towels” he threw in Puerto Rico. “The cheering was incredible,” he said.


WASHINGTON—U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at the “fake” journalists who criticized him for tossing rolls of paper towel to Puerto Rican hurricane victims.
The paper towels, he said, were beautiful. And soft.

“They had these beautiful, soft towels. Very good towels,” Trump said in a conversation that aired Sunday on Christian television network Trinity Broadcasting. “And I came in and there was a crowd of a lot of people. And they were screaming and they were loving everything. I was having fun, they were having fun. They said, ‘Throw ’em to me! Throw ’em to me, Mr. President!’”

“So next day they said, ‘Oh it was so disrespectful to the people.’ It was just a made-up thing. And also when I walked in, the cheering was incredible,” he said.

Trump’s impassioned defence of his Tuesday towel-tossing, an act that insulted many Puerto Ricans, came during a quasi-interview with an ardent supporter and television host Mike Huckabee, the father of his press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Huckabee lobbed Trump questions that softball players would be insulted to hear called softballs. His first question: “Tell me, how good is your press secretary?”

But Trump still made a number of noteworthy, unusual and inaccurate statements in response.

1. He attacked San Juan’s mayor again
When Trump visited Puerto Rico on Tuesday, he took a break from his extraordinary personal criticism of San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who has been sharply critical of the federal response to Hurricane Maria.

Trump resumed his onslaught in speaking with Mike Huckabee, saying Cruz “really did not do a very good job — in fact, did a very poor job.”

“And she was the lone voice (of criticism) that we saw,” he said, ignoring the vociferous criticism from thousands of other Puerto Ricans. “And of course that’s the only voice the media wanted to talk to. And she’s running for governor. Big surprise.”

He continued: “But she’s not a capable person. And my people were telling me that to start off with.”

2. He took credit for inventing the word ‘fake’
Trump, as he so often does, called the media “fake.” And then he, it seemed, took credit for coining the word “fake.”

“I think one of the greatest of all terms I’ve come up with is ‘fake.’ I guess other people have used it, perhaps, over the years, but I’ve never noticed it,” he said.

Trump would not have even been correct if he meant to refer specifically to the phrase “fake news.”

3. He said Las Vegas mass murderer Stephen Paddock was “probably smart”
Trump has been calling Paddock “sick” and “demented.” This time, he added a descriptor rarely heard from presidents talking about the perpetrators of mass slaughters.

While praising police officers for their response to the shooting, Trump noted Paddock had set up cameras so he could observe officers as they tried to apprehend him.
“This was a sick person — but probably smart,” Trump said.

4. He accused Iran of working with North Korea
Trump offered his regular criticism of Iran, saying Iran was violating the “spirit” of their nuclear agreement and “causing trouble” in the Middle East. But he added a new set of accusations this time.

“I believe they’re funding North Korea,” he said. “I believe they’re trading with North Korea. I believe they’re doing things with North Korea that is totally inappropriate. And that doesn’t pertain to the deal — but in my opinion it does. It’s called the spirit of a deal.”

He did not provide evidence.

5. He offered a bizarre explanation for his latest favourite health-care plan
The Republican health-care bill that failed in late September, known as Graham-Cassidy, would have sent states money and instructed them to design their own health systems.

Trump said the downward transfer of power is a good idea because it would allow him to stop personally taking care of people’s health problems.

“I want to focus on North Korea. I want to focus on Iran. I want to focus on other things. I don’t want to focus on fixing somebody’s back. Or their knee. Or something. Let the states do that,” he said.

Perhaps he meant he wanted to be free of having to deal with health policy at all, but the Republican bill would not come close to ending the federal role in the system.

6. He said his post-hurricane consoling makes him feel good
Huckabee asked Trump how he has taken to the role of post-tragedy consoler of the nation. Trump said he has mixed feelings.

“In one sense, you hate to see it,” he said. “In another sense, you feel you can do a good job. You’re really helping people. So it makes you feel good.”

7. He took another step away from his campaign promise to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
Trump already postponed the controversial embassy move he had once promised to make on the first day of his presidency. This time, he explained why he’s dallying: he wants to try to make peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

“I want to give that a shot before I even think about moving the embassy to Jerusalem,” he said.

Trump’s ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, sounded much more convinced a move was coming during an interview on the same network earlier in the week, saying,
“The embassy will move. It’s not if, but when.”

8. He backed off his claim that his tax plan doesn’t help the rich
In September, Trump falsely claimed that his plan for tax cuts, which would predominantly help rich people, would not help the rich at all. His language was significantly different this time.

He said the focus of tax reform was the middle class. But he did not deny that rich people would get help too.

“This is not a tax (cut) for the rich. Now, everybody’s going to benefit,” he said.

9. He made false claims
It is not a Trump interview without some wrongness.

• He said, again, that the Coast Guard “saved 16,000 lives” — 16,000 lives,” he emphasized — during the response to Hurricane Harvey in Texas. The Coast Guard says it conducted 11,022 rescues.
  

• He said, again, that the U.S. is “the highest-taxed nation in the world.” It is below-average for developed countries.
  

• He said, again, that “everybody was shocked” by the 3.1 per cent economic growth in the second quarter of this year. Several prominent analysts predicted such growth.
  

• And he said, again, that Daesh, also known as the Islamic State, was created in the “vacuum” left in Iraq when former U.S. president Barack Obama presided over a withdrawal of troops in 2011. The group, which has origins back to 1999, adopted the name Islamic State in 2006, more than two years before Obama took office.
  

[GMDino]

http://www.newsweek.com/trump-doesnt-know-hes-president-us-virgin-islands-684308

Quote:PRESIDENT TRUMP DOESN’T KNOW HE’S THE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS


UPDATED--Is President Donald Trump aware residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands are, in fact, Americans? It's unclear.


In a speech Friday, Trump said he'd recently "met with the president of the Virgin Islands" to discuss the recent hurricanes that have devastated Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the island.


But Trump could not have spoken to the "president of the Virgin Islands" because, of course, he is the president of the U.S. Virgin Islands, whose residents are U.S. citizens. 

Quote:Zack Ford 
@ZackFord
Trump: "I met with the president of the Virgin Islands."
10:34 AM - Oct 13, 2017

Quote:[/url][url=https://twitter.com/NBCNews]NBC News 

@NBCNews
President Trump on disaster victims: "They're all healing. Their states and territories are healing, and they're healing rapidly."
10:38 AM - Oct 13, 2017

Perhaps Trump was referring to the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Kenneth Mapp, with whom the president met in early October.



The U.S. Virgin Islands government reluctantly responded to Trump's gaffe. 


“I would not want to in any way involve the governor of the Virgin Islands in any national dispute in the media about what the president knows about the relationship between the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” Sam Topp, deputy communications director for Governor Mapp, tells Newsweek.


"It doesn't serve our purpose to participate in the national hoopla over whether Donald Trump is making competent comments or not. Just look at the documents that govern the relationship [between the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands], and you can determine how relevant or irrelevant, or advised or ill-advised, his comments were. There’s no president of the United States other than the president of the United States," Topp adds. 

[Griever]

(10-13-2017, 03:38 PM)GMDino Wrote: http://www.newsweek.com/trump-doesnt-know-hes-president-us-virgin-islands-684308

Trump sure has the best words

[GMDino]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/16/politics/trump-niger-green-berets/index.html#ampshare=http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/16/politics/trump-niger-green-berets/index.html

Quote:Trump finally comments on soldier deaths in Niger; falsely knocks Obama over his responses to dead soldiers

(CNN)Breaking his public silence about four American soldiers killed during an ambush in Niger, President Donald Trump said Monday he'd penned personal letters to their families and planned to phone them later this week.


He also claimed, without merit, that his predecessors hadn't written or called the families of slain American troops during their tenures, though the tradition of presidents reaching out after US servicemen are killed in action is long-established.


Trump said he'd written the letters over the weekend, and suggested they'd be mailed early this week. He was speaking 12 days after the ambush -- the deadliest combat incident since he took office.

"I felt very, very badly about that," Trump said during a press availability in the Rose Garden. "I always feel badly. It is the toughest calls I have to make are the calls where this happens, soldiers are killed."


He then claimed that other commanders in chief hadn't reached out to families of Americans killed in action, indicating he'd been told as much by the generals who serve in his administration.

"All I can do is ask my generals," Trump said. "Other presidents did not call, they would write letters, and some presidents didn't do anything."


"I like, when I can, the combination of a call and also a letter," he said.


Barack Obama, during his term in office, wrote letters and made calls to families of killed Americans, according to former administration officials. He also made frequent visits to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to spend time with wounded troops.


George W. Bush also wrote letters to families of troops killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which began during his tenure.


When pressed about his assertion, Trump backtracked slightly.

"I don't know if he did," he said of Obama. "I was told that he didn't often, and a lot of presidents don't. They write letters. I do, I do a combination of both."


Trump's remarks Monday marked the first time he's commented at all -- in person or on Twitter -- about the Green Berets and US support personnel who were slain around the October 4 raid. The White House press secretary said previously the administration was still reviewing the circumstances around the mission.


"It is a very difficult thing," Trump said. "It gets to a point where you make four to five of them in one day, it is a very, very tough day."


Officials briefed on the Niger raid have described to CNN a scene of confusion and uncertainty in the immediate aftermath of the incident. Troops were left for nearly an hour before help could arrive to the remote area they were operating.


The White House has said little about Trump's involvement in the proceedings, and he did not travel to Dover Air Force Base for the return of the soldiers' bodies to the United States.


The brother of one of the men killed said on Monday that hearing from Trump was not high on his list of priorities.


"It's been the furthest thing from my mind and the minds of my family," said Will Wright, the brother of Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, adding he bore no ill-will toward Trump.


After Trump's remarks on Monday, former Obama officials and other Democrats sharply criticized his remarks about his predecessors, calling them insensitive.


"The commander in chief told a totally irresponsible and disgusting lie in the Rose Garden today, claiming past presidents did not call the families of fallen service members," said a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, Brian Gabriel. 


"Trump's jaw-dropping, disrespectful lie is not based anywhere in reality and is another symptom of a deep-seated obsession with tearing down President Obama."


Responding to the backlash, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders insisted that Trump wasn't intending to criticize former commanders in chief


"The President wasn't criticizing predecessors, but stating a fact," Sanders said in a statement. "When American heroes make the ultimate sacrifice, Presidents pay their respects. Sometimes they call, sometimes they send a letter, other times they have the opportunity to meet family members in person."


"This President, like his predecessors, has done each of these," Sanders went on. "Individuals claiming former Presidents, such as their bosses, called each family of the fallen, are mistaken."

Just for clarity:

Quote:White House press secretary Sarah Sanders insisted that Trump wasn't intending to criticize former commanders in chief

"The President wasn't criticizing predecessors, but stating a fact," Sanders said in a statement. "When American heroes make the ultimate sacrifice, Presidents pay their respects. Sometimes they call, sometimes they send a letter, other times they have the opportunity to meet family members in person."

Here is what the POTUS said:

Quote:Trump said. "Other presidents did not call, they would write letters, and some presidents didn't do anything."

...

When pressed about his assertion, Trump backtracked slightly.


"I don't know if he did," he said of Obama. "I was told that he didn't often, and a lot of presidents don't

The level of lying/denial is, frankly, breathtaking.

[Yojimbo]

(10-16-2017, 11:40 PM)GMDino Wrote: http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/16/politics/trump-niger-green-berets/index.html#ampshare=http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/16/politics/trump-niger-green-berets/index.html






Just for clarity:




Here is what the POTUS said:




The level of lying/denial is, frankly, breathtaking.

Just read Gregg Popovich’s response to this and couldn’t agree more, a soulless coward.

https://www.sbnation.com/2017/10/16/16486218/gregg-popovich-donald-trump-soulless-coward-niger-ambush-fallen-soldiers

[*jason*]

(10-17-2017, 12:20 AM)Yojimbo Wrote: Just read Gregg Popovich’s response to this and couldn’t agree more, a soulless coward.

https://www.sbnation.com/2017/10/16/16486218/gregg-popovich-donald-trump-soulless-coward-niger-ambush-fallen-soldiers

I just read that today he told a reporter to ask General Kelly if Obama called him after his son was killed in Afghanistan.

The man is like school on Sundays... No class.

[GMDino]

(10-17-2017, 01:11 PM)jason Wrote: I just read that today he told a reporter to ask General Kelly if Obama called him after his son was killed in Afghanistan.

The man is like school on Sundays... No class.

https://www.local10.com/news/politics/trump-speaks-to-widow-of-sgt-la-david-johnson

Quote:Trump to widow of Sgt. La David Johnson: 'He knew what he signed up for'

Trump faces controversy after U.S. Army deaths in Africa

MIAMI-DADE, Fla. - President Donald Trump told U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson's widow Tuesday that "he knew what he signed up for ... but when it happens, it hurts anyway," speaking of how Johnson died serving in northwestern Africa, according to Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami Gardens. 


"Yes, he said it," Wilson said. "It's so insensitive. He should have not have said that. He shouldn't have said it." 



The president called about 4:45 p.m. and spoke to Johnson's pregnant widow, Myeshia Johnson, for about five minutes. She is a mother to Johnson's surviving 2-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter. The conversation happened before Johnson's remains arrived at Miami International Airport on a commercial Delta Airlines flight flight. 


A top advisor later told Local 10 News "The president's conversations with the families of American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice are private." 


Wilson watched as the widow, who is expecting their third baby in January, leaned over the U.S. flag that was draping Johnson's casket. Her pregnant belly was shaking against the casket as she sobbed uncontrollably. Their daughter stood next to her stoically. Their toddler waited in the arms of a relative.


There was silence.


Local politicians, police officers and firefighters lined up to honor Johnson for his service and for the efforts and discipline that got the former Walmart employee to defy all odds and become a 25-year-old member of the 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.


Johnson, who participated in a mentorship program Wilson founded in 1993, died during a mission fighting alongside Green Berets. Islamic militants ambushed them on Oct. 4 with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. The team reportedlydidn't have overhead armed air cover and was in unarmored pickup trucks. Reuters reported the lack of planning upset the French. 


Trump didn't discuss any of the details of the ambush or say that Pentagon was conducting an investigation. Instead, he focused on questions about whether or not he had offered his condolences to the families of the fallen. 


"I will, at some point, during the period of time, call the parents and the families, because I have done that, traditionally," Trump said during a press conference last week. 


Wilson criticized Trump for failing to acknowledge Johnson's death after he was left behind during the evacuation. It took nearly two days to find his body in the Republic of Niger's desert. Johnson's body made it to the U.S. on Oct. 7 when Trump was playing golf with Sen. Lindsey Graham. 


Amid the controversy, Trump later said President Barack Obama and other presidents didn't make calls to the relatives of all fallen servicemen and women. Aides for both President George W. Bush's and Obama reacted on Twitter and in The Huffington Post, saying the president misspoke.


Trump later backpedaled the claim during an interview with NBC's Peter Alexander. 


"President Obama, I think, probably did sometimes, and maybe sometimes he didn’t. I don’t know. That’s what I was told. All I can do, all I can do is ask my generals. Other presidents did not call. They’d write letters. And some presidents didn’t do anything," Trump said. "But I like the combination of, I like, when I can, the combination of a call and also a letter."


The Atlantic's David A. Graham believes Trump used the controversy to distract reporters. Despite the criticism, Trump continued the discussion on Fox News Radio when he raised doubt about whether or not Obama called his chief of staff, John Kelly, when Kelly's son died.
Graham said it was Trump's strategy to distract reporters from the important questions about the deadly ambush in Africa.


"The broader question, of what the soldiers who were killed were doing and what went wrong, remains unaddressed by the president, and Trump’s jab at other presidents may, unfortunately, help to keep it that way," Graham wrote. 


After an emotional procession from Miami-Dade to Broward County, Johnson's remains were at a funeral home in Hollywood. There will be a public viewing from 4 to 8 p.m.  Friday and a funeral service from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, at the Christ The Rock Church at 11000 
Stirling Road in Cooper City. The internment will be at the Hollywood Memorial Gardens, at 3001 N. 72 St.


According to officials with the Department of Defense, the other three victims of the attack were Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, 35, of Puyallup, Washington; Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio; and Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, 29, of Lyons, Georgia.

[Vas Deferens]

just give him a chance. its amazing people even gave him a chance after what was known at the time. complete disgrace and a black eye on the country.

stand up for that flag everyone.

[ballsofsteel]

Its amazing that Trump says the things he does. As he always does, he throws that line out there and sets the hook for his gullible following, lie and bring up what the black president before him supposedly did or didn't do. Wrap himself in the flag, lie and deny. He has accomplished basically nothing since he took office. How anyone can take this guy seriously and not see him for the moron he is, is beyond me.

Remember Trump's MO
1) Lie and deny
2) remind his base how bad the black president was.
3) Act like he is the greatest patriot this country ever had.
4) Grab a woman's vagina when the opportunity arises.

[*michaelsean*]

(10-18-2017, 12:30 AM)GMDino Wrote: https://www.local10.com/news/politics/trump-speaks-to-widow-of-sgt-la-david-johnson

Yeah that's messed up.  I can't come up with a way that was supposed to be meant in a good way.

[*Nately120*]

(10-18-2017, 08:38 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Yeah that's messed up.  I can't come up with a way that was supposed to be meant in a good way.

Trump's just saying what we are all thinking and don't have the balls to say ourselves, apparently.

[GMDino]

(10-18-2017, 08:38 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Yeah that's messed up.  I can't come up with a way that was supposed to be meant in a good way.

(10-18-2017, 08:45 AM)Nately120 Wrote: Trump's just saying what we are all thinking and don't have the balls to say ourselves, apparently.

This.

We all know that when people sign up for dangerous jobs they are dangerous.

He doesn't need to say it to the widow of one of them.  But he has not empathy for anyone so he has no idea how to say anything nice, IMO.

[*Nately120*]

(10-18-2017, 08:50 AM)GMDino Wrote: This.

We all know that when people sign up for dangerous jobs they are dangerous.

He doesn't need to say it to the widow of one of them.  But he has not empathy for anyone so he has no idea how to say anything nice, IMO.

In all seriousness, this and his history of derision for the commoners tasked with serving this county combine with his grandstanding about what a great patriot he is because he stands up for the National Anthem to illustrate just how superficial patriotism can be.

Perhaps I'm over-simplifying this or letting my personal experiences get in the way but it legitimately seems like Trump can't stand the fact that he isn't a hero veteran and he has to praise people who aren't him and who hold an honor and achieve an esteem he can never attain.

[GMDino]

And the backtracking and explaining begin...

http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/news/local/item/5928-president-denies-disparaging-remarks-to-army-widow

Quote:WASHINGTON D.C. - President Donald Trump fired back at those who say he spoke rudely to the widow of a serviceman on Tuesday.

"I didn't say what that congresswoman said; didn't say it all.  She knows it.  And she now is not saying it.  I did not say what she said, and I’d like her to make the statement again because I did not say what she said.  I had a very nice conversation with the woman, with the wife who was - sounded like a lovely woman.  Did not say what the congresswoman said, and most people aren’t too surprised to hear that," Trump said in a pool spray following a Senate Finance meeting today.

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (D-Fla) said in an interview that Trump told the widow of a serviceman killed in Niger that "he knew what he signed up for."


The mother of the serviceman also said the president disrespected the dead soldier."President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband," Cawanda Jones-Johnson told The Washington Post


 According to a source close to the president, President Donald Trump was "misunderstood" in his comments to an army widow, and only meant to console her - though an early morning tweet issued by the president bypassed his condolences to tear into Congresswoman Wilson.


"This president cares deeply. Maybe he said something that was misunderstood, but he certainly cares about fallen servicemen and women," the source said speaking on background.


It is the first indication from anyone in the administration the president misspoke when speaking with U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson’s widow Tuesday.
President Donald Trump tweeted “Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!
Trump’s call to Myeshia Johnson’s, who is pregnant and mother to his surviving two-year-old son and six-year-old daughter came at 4:45 p.m. before Johnson’s remains arrived at Miami International Airport on a commercial flight.


The President’s actions came after reporters in the White House press corps pressed the president Monday on why he had yet to reach out to the family of soldiers recently killed in Niger.


Saying former President Obama failed to call the family of killed servicemen, Trump walked that remark back after NBC reporter Peter Alexander pressed him on the issue.


"I will, at some point, during the period of time, call the parents and the families, because I have done that, traditionally," Trump said during a joint news conference with Senator Mitch McConnell Monday on the back steps of the Oval Office outside of the Rose Garden.


"I probably would have hung up on him," Christina Ayube said bluntly.


Ayube, a Gold-Star mother from Salem, Mass. lost her son, Army Sgt. James Ayube December 8, 2010.


Sgt. Ayube, an army medic was on patrol when an elderly man approached him and another soldier and detonated a suicide bomb that also killed the two soldiers.

"President Obama was there when the remains returned to Dover and he saluted his casket," Ayube said. "I got a letter and a personal note from him later," she added.


"My son was a medic. He didn't sign up for that," Ayube said in response to the president's comments about Johnson. "I somewhat hoped when this president took office he would realize the gravity of his job and wouldn't act so juvenile. It's either he has no empathy or he just thinks he's above us all and we're here for his pleasure."


After the president’s tweet Tuesday, The Sentinel obtained information regarding the telephone call which prompted the outcry.


According to notes taken of the conversation involving Wilson it began shortly after 8:14 p.m. about three hours after the President called Johnson. 
Congresswoman Wilson said the president told the widow, “Even though he knew what he signed up for it still hurts.”


“Why would you say that to the grieving widow,” Wilson said. “So everbody who signs up for war is signing up to die? It’s like he’s blaming the victim.”


According to Wilson, Johnson “. . . was livid. She cried forever. She was shaking her head and crying.”


Wilson then said she became irate herself. “I said, ‘let me speak to him. Let me speak to him,” she said. “But they wouldn’t let me speak to him.”

Johnson died on a mission with U.S. Army Special Forces in Northwest Africa after being ambushed by Islamic militants using rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. Four men died in the ambush, and according to previously published reports, the team reportedly didn't have overhead armed air cover and was in unarmored pickup trucks.


The President's tweet also prompted a response from  Karen Meredith, the Gold Star and Military Families coordinator for VoteVets, who lost her son, First Lieutenant Ken Ballard, in Iraq. “Mr. Trump, stop. Please, just stop. Your actions and words on this entire matter of the fallen in Niger is disgraceful, and unbecoming of a President of the United States and Commander in Chief. This is not about you, it is about them. It is about all of us who lost our loved ones, in war. For once in your life, please stop making everything about you. For once in your life, at least pretend to know what empathy is. For once in your life, at least try to care about other people and their feelings.”

[*Nately120*]

We can't just vote Trump into power because we think a bully who does and says what he wants with no regard for hurt feelings is just what this country wants/needs and then spend the next 4-8 years scrambling to explain why he "totally isn't constantly being a d-bag." Trump is being Trump and this is what we decided was the cure for whatever we were told was ailing this country.

Don't ask why Trump keeps doing what we know he has always done, ask why we thought a guy who does what he does was the best choice to represent this country.

[GMDino]

So this drivel showed up today:

What my #POTUS has done pic.twitter.com/66Mshg1r00

— missK (@USArmy333) October 19, 2017

I always wonder if people have to work at being delusional or if it just comes so naturally they don't even notice.

[Dill]

(10-19-2017, 12:34 PM)GMDino Wrote: So this drivel showed up today:

What my #POTUS has done pic.twitter.com/66Mshg1r00

— missK (@USArmy333) October 19, 2017

I always wonder if people have to work at being delusional or if it just comes so naturally they don't even notice.

I find it interesting that for so many right-wingers the "list" is first choice for managing and presenting evidence. Think of the 30,000 "scientists" who rejected the global warming thesis or Breitbart's 400 incidents of violence at Occupy Wall Street.

It seems the perfect medium for presenting the illusion of QUANTITY to people who don't look closely at details and don't vet them carefully when they do.

LOL "worked with Congress to pass more legislation in 100 days than any previous president" "stopped companies from moving out of the US"

Didn't Trump donate his first quarter salary to the national park service?

[GMDino]

https://action.donaldjtrump.com/mainstream-media-accountability-survey/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ET_167&utm_campaign=20171021_2155_media-accountability-survey-fwd_donaldjtrumpcom_jfc&utm_content=gop_surveys_text_take_middle_fwd_all

[Belsnickel]

https://www.redstate.com/jimjamitis/2017/10/27/1992-letter-editor-trumps-secretary-hilariously-embarrassing/