Donald Trump attacks 'slimeball' reporter
in war dead row.
US President Donald Trump has described as
a "slimeball" a journalist who quoted him
as saying dead US soldiers were "losers" and
"suckers".
He likened the Atlantic magazine report to
unproven accusations made against him of colluding
with Russia to win the presidential election
of 2016.
The damning quotes were confirmed independently
by The Associated Press.
Veterans' groups are among those condemning
Mr Trump, less than two months from the 2020
election.
Progressive group VoteVets posted a video
of families whose children had been killed
in action.
"You don't know what it is to sacrifice,"
says one.
Paul Rieckhoff of the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans
of America, tweeted: "Who is really surprised
by this?"
A small group of protesters waved placards
at the president's motorcade on Saturday near
the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia.
Mr Trump has often staked a claim to strong
support among the military, and last year
Pew Research Center found that veterans were
generally supportive of him as commander-in-chief,
with 57% in favour.
Three-fifths of the veterans identified as
Republican, the research found.
What is Trump reported to have said?
According to The Atlantic, when Mr Trump cancelled
a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery
outside Paris in November 2018, 100 years
after the end of World War One, he said it
was "filled with losers".
Four sources told the magazine he had rejected
the idea of visiting because the rain would
dishevel his hair, and he did not believe
it important to honour America's war dead.
During the same trip, the president also allegedly
referred to 1,800 US soldiers who died at
Belleau Wood as "suckers".
The battle helped to prevent a German advance
on Paris during World War One and is venerated
by the US Marine Corps.
The Atlantic's reporting was based on anonymous
sources but a "senior Defense Department official
with first-hand knowledge of events" and a
"senior U.S. Marine Corps officer who was
told about Trump's comments" confirmed the
cemetery comments to AP.
In 2018 the White House said the cemetery
visit had been cancelled because bad weather
had grounded the president's helicopter.
This account was backed up in a recent book
by President Trump's former national security
adviser, John Bolton, who has been a vocal
critic of Mr Trump.
The US Navy also said it cancelled the trip
to the cemetery because of rain in response
to a request under the Freedom of Information
Act from Buzzfeed reporter Jason Leopold.
How did Trump react?
Without referring to Jeffrey Goldberg, the
author of the Atlantic report, by name, he
tweeted on Saturday: "You work so hard for
the military, from completely rebuilding a
depleted mess that was left by OBiden [the
previous presidential administration when
Joe Biden was vice-president to Barack Obama],
to fixing a broken V.A. and fighting for large
scale military pay raises, and then a slimeball
reporter, maybe working with disgruntled people,
makes up such a horrible charge.."
"This reminds me of the Dirty Dossier [the
Steele dossier which alleged collusion with
Russia], which was pushed hard by John McCain,
& then with a thud turned out to be a total
fraud.
So many other scams also.
The Radical Far Left is VICIOUS, they will
do or say anything to win.
But they won't, we will WIN, & have four great
years!"
Mr Trump went on to attack another journalist,
Jennifer Griffin of Fox News, normally one
of the president's favourite news outlets.
Griffin had reported disparaging remarks about
the US military allegedly made by Mr Trump
on other occasions such as calling soldiers
who fought in the Vietnam War "suckers".
"Jennifer Griffin should be fired for this
kind of reporting," Mr Trump tweeted.
"Never even called us for comment.
@FoxNews is gone!"
White House officials have either denied the
remarks allegedly made on the trip to France
or stressed the president's respect for the
military.
What are Trump's opponents saying?
Mr Biden, the Democratic challenger in the
3 November election, said his rival was "unfit"
to lead.
"Mr. President, if you don't respect our troops,
you can't lead them," he tweeted.
If elected, he said, he would "ensure that
our American heroes know that I will have
their back and honor their sacrifice.
Always."
[News from BBC]
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