Contemptuous

Yesterday, The Atlantic magazine broke a story (link here) that knocked Washington and the US military off their proverbial feet. The article is titled "Trump [Says] Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’" with the secondary title, in part, reading "The president has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members, and asked that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades..."

Although the article's revelations are shocking, they should come as no surprise. Trump defamed on camera American hero John McCain, who was a POW for more than five years, for being captured. He trashed the parents of an American hero who died in service to his country on camera simply because they had endorsed his opponent.

The linked piece provides further details about when Trump did not want to visit an American cemetery for military personnel killed in World War I in Northern France in 2018 because he feared the rain would muss his hair. That fact is already known.

What was not known is what he said at the time, which was revealed in The Atlantic piece yesterday. The article quotes what he told senior staff when he refused to visit the cemetery: "he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, 'Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.' In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as 'suckers' for getting killed."

Further in the article, the piece notes: "Trump referred to former President George H. W. Bush as a 'loser' for being shot down by the Japanese as a Navy pilot in World War II."

And then the most disturbing item comes about half way through the story. When Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery with John Kelly, then the head of Homeland Security, while standing at the secretary's war hero son's grave, the President said "I don’t get it. What was in it for them?" The piece then notes "Kelly ... initially believed, people close to him said, that Trump was making a ham-handed reference to the selflessness of America’s all-volunteer force. But later he came to realize that Trump simply does not understand non-transactional life choices.... He can’t fathom the idea of doing something for someone other than himself. He just thinks that anyone who does anything when there’s no direct personal gain to be had is a sucker. There’s no money in serving the nation."

It remains to be seen how these revelations will impact Trump's reelection chances. He already has historically low approval ratings for a Republican President amongst actively serving military personnel. A majority of them have said in recent surveys that they intend to vote for his opponent in November, a historic first.

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