Anger sparked by President Trump’s false claims on Monday that Barack Obama and other past presidents did not reach out to families of fallen American troops swelled into the night.
Stop the damn lying - you’re the President. I went to Dover AFB with 44 and saw him comfort the families of both the fallen military & DEA. pic.twitter.com/HhE4KbTBkJ
— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) October 17, 2017
Retired Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2011 to 2015, said in a tweet that Obama and President George W. Bush “and first ladies cared deeply, worked tirelessly for the serving, the fallen, and their families,” adding: “Not politics. Sacred Trust.”
POTUS 43 & 44 and first ladies cared deeply, worked tirelessly for the serving, the fallen, and their families. Not politics. Sacred Trust.
— GEN(R) Martin E. Dempsey (@Martin_Dempsey) October 17, 2017
Trump sparked the controversy with a casual comment in a disjointed news conference Monday in the Rose Garden.
When asked by a reporter why he had not spoken publicly about the four U.S. Special Forces members who were killed in an ambush in Niger nearly two weeks ago, Trump responded that he was going to send their families letters, which were drafted over the weekend, and he justified his behavior by referring to the practices of other presidents.
“If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls. A lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I am able to do it,” he said. The Washington Post’s Fact Checker judged his description “false.”
Though he later seemed to take back the claim, saying that Obama “probably did” write letters “sometimes,” there was an immediate reaction that intensified through the night.
Ben Rhodes, who served as Obama’s deputy national security adviser, called the statement “an outrageous and disrespectful lie even by Trump standards.”
This is an outrageous and disrespectful lie even by Trump standards. Also: Obama never attacked a Gold Star family. https://t.co/JgzTUIzWIa
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) October 16, 2017
“Also: Obama never attacked a Gold Star family,” Rhodes added, likely referring to Trump’s lashing out at Khizr Khan, the father of a soldier killed in Iraq. Khan criticized Trump at the Democratic National Convention last year.
Several people tweeted a piece written by Dana Perino, who served as President George W. Bush’s press secretary, recalling a day when Bush visited wounded service members at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and “meekly accepted the rage of a grieving mother,” as David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter, tweeted.
The day George W. Bush meekly accepted the rage of a grieving mother in a military hospital by @DanaPerino https://t.co/8o2SUwiaKB
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 16, 2017
“When my brother was killed, Pres Bush listened while I screamed at him & then held me as I sobbed,” tweeted a user named Delilia O’Malley.
Enough other people tweeted stories, videos and photographs of former presidents comforting grieving families that the social media platform curated them into a Twitter Moment.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later said Trump “wasn’t criticizing predecessors, but stating a fact. 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.”
Trump just can't stop slandering President Obama. But his claim today that Obama didn't call the families of fallen soldiers is a new low.
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷 (@JoyAnnReid) October 16, 2017
Simple.
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) October 16, 2017
President of the United States should not:
1. Lie knowingly & repeatedly;
2. Lie about former POTUSes;
3. Lie about dead soldiers.
President Obama honored our fallen heroes & their families.
— Ted Corcoran (RedTRaccoon) (@RedTRaccoon) October 17, 2017
Watch what respect for our soldiers & our military tradition should look like. pic.twitter.com/Wjyj2kpLkk
What a gross, slanderous thing for Trump to say that other presidents didn't call the families of dead soldiers.
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) October 16, 2017
Per @maddow
— non-ficshawn🌵 (@ShawnInArizona) October 17, 2017
Not only did Obama contact families of fallen soldiers, also contacted families of vets who committed suicide#TrumpLiesMatter pic.twitter.com/xpz4OimI3J
This is what Trump accused Obama of not doing for Gold Star families and when our soldiers pay the ultimate price! pic.twitter.com/tqljuaIvnW
— BusyB (@bhwayman) October 17, 2017
WH says POTUS was "stating a fact" about former presidents including Obama not calling families of fallen soldiers. Fact check: False.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 16, 2017
.@realDonaldTrump-Not only did @BarackObama call families of fallen soldiers THE DAY THEY WERE NOTIFIED, he met face to face with families. pic.twitter.com/kzH9n1m9fK
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) October 16, 2017
I still can't fathom the psychosis that would require someone to lie about his predecessors not calling the families of fallen soldiers.
— Chris Jackson (@ChrisCJackson) October 17, 2017
Scenes from Trump’s second six months in office
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