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Trump's Attitude Toward Members of the Armed Forces

AConcernedCitizen

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There has been much debate around whether President Trump called Marines buried in Aisne-Marne American Cemetery "losers and suckers." The crux of this issue for most people seems to center around the reliability of anonymous sources, whether Fox news confirmed key aspects of the story, how many firsthand accounts there are of people hearing the President NOT say those things, etc.

None of that is what this post is about. I'm not terribly interested in whether or not President Trump said those particular things on that particular occasion. If it is a lie, it is a believable one because of the kernal of truth behind it.

What I do know is that he said this: "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero 'cause he was captured. I like people who weren't captured ok?"

Many would like to pretend that this is an insult specifically and exclusively to John McCain, but it is not. It is an insult to every US POW that the Commander in Chief only likes the people who weren't captured.

It is not hard to understand his reasoning here. As he says elsewhere on this same occasion, "I don't like losers." This is telling of his winners/losers worldview, and consistent with what he has said and done long before becoming president, and continuing through his presidency.

He likes the soldiers that go to the place, kill the bad guys, and then come home safe and sound. That's how you win at Call of Duty. You complete all the mission objectives and survive all the levels in order to win, and that makes you a 'winner.' You don't win if you get captured halfway through the level. You lose. That makes you a 'loser.'

So what if you get killed halfway through the level? What does that make you according to this winners/losers worldview lens?

Regardless of whether he actually said it or not in regards to the Marines buried in Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, it does not stretch the imagination at all to imagine Trump saying "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero 'cause he got himself killed. I like people who weren't killed ok?"
 
Trump has disparaged the military in numerous ways.

He has rudely denigrated a Gold Star family (Khan) and a Gold Star widow ( Johnson ). He has pardoned/commuted the sentences of convicted US war criminals. He has said nothing about Russian bounties, nor of the Russians ramming a US military vehicle in Syria. He stated a few US soldiers in Syria suffered from minor headaches when in fact 102 US soldiers sustained severe brain trauma. He has diverted Pentagon construction funds for his vanity wall, funds that could have rehabbed shabby US military barracks and build clinics on US bases. The list goes on and on.
 
There has been much debate around whether President Trump called Marines buried in Aisne-Marne American Cemetery "losers and suckers." The crux of this issue for most people seems to center around the reliability of anonymous sources, whether Fox news confirmed key aspects of the story, how many firsthand accounts there are of people hearing the President NOT say those things, etc.

None of that is what this post is about. I'm not terribly interested in whether or not President Trump said those particular things on that particular occasion. If it is a lie, it is a believable one because of the kernal of truth behind it.

What I do know is that he said this: "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero 'cause he was captured. I like people who weren't captured ok?"

Many would like to pretend that this is an insult specifically and exclusively to John McCain, but it is not. It is an insult to every US POW that the Commander in Chief only likes the people who weren't captured.

It is not hard to understand his reasoning here. As he says elsewhere on this same occasion, "I don't like losers." This is telling of his winners/losers worldview, and consistent with what he has said and done long before becoming president, and continuing through his presidency.

He likes the soldiers that go to the place, kill the bad guys, and then come home safe and sound. That's how you win at Call of Duty. You complete all the mission objectives and survive all the levels in order to win, and that makes you a 'winner.' You don't win if you get captured halfway through the level. You lose. That makes you a 'loser.'

So what if you get killed halfway through the level? What does that make you according to this winners/losers worldview lens?

Regardless of whether he actually said it or not in regards to the Marines buried in Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, it does not stretch the imagination at all to imagine Trump saying "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero 'cause he got himself killed. I like people who weren't killed ok?"
Well...let's see...I can support your psychobabble explanation of what Trump REALLY means when he says stuff...or I can support his actions in regard to the members of our military.

Hmmm...which one is based on reality, I wonder?

Yeah...this is a no-brainer question.

/thread dismissed
 
Well...let's see...I can support your psychobabble explanation of what Trump REALLY means when he says stuff...or I can support his actions in regard to the members of our military.

Hmmm...which one is based on reality, I wonder?

Yeah...this is a no-brainer question.

/thread dismissed

So your position is that even though he doesn't like the troops who were captured, his actions indicate that he does like the troops who were killed?
 
Just another fake story designed specifically to get a sack of potatoes in the Oval Office. Dismissed.
 
I understand the idea that actions speak louder than words. Perhaps while Trump verbally gives every indication of only liking those service members he perceives as 'winners,' his actions will reveal that he holds all members of the armed forces in the highest regard.

For example, in 1991 he petitioned to have veteran street vendors removed from from 5th Ave in New York.

“While disabled veterans should be given every opportunity to earn a living, is it fair to do so to the detriment of the city as a whole or its tax paying citizens and businesses? Do we allow Fifth Ave., one of the world’s finest and most luxurious shopping districts, to be turned into an outdoor flea market, clogging and seriously downgrading the area?” -Donald Trump
 
So your position is that even though he doesn't like the troops who were captured, his actions indicate that he does like the troops who were killed?
sigh...

No.

My comment was very clear. I reject your nonsense and recognize reality.
 
sigh...

No.

My comment was very clear. I reject your nonsense and recognize reality.

When President Trump says "I like people who weren't captured ok?" What does that mean to you?
 
people that don't value the sacrifice of our military will vote for Trump.

they're just frauds on so many things (military, debt, healthcare, life, etc).
 
Context matters.

I linked to a video of Trump saying that in the OP. The context is that he was talking about members of the US armed forces. Some people think that POWs like John McCain are heroes because of the sacrifices they made for their Country. Trump says that doesn't make them heroes. He likes people who don't get captured. That is the context.
 
Two Republicans that hate(d) Trump. McCain and Romney. What do these guys have in common?
 
There has been much debate around whether President Trump called Marines buried in Aisne-Marne American Cemetery "losers and suckers."

LOL, there is no debate to the honest or objective.
 
Why would Donald Trump care about soldiers and christians? They can't make him any money.
 
I linked to a video of Trump saying that in the OP. The context is that he was talking about members of the US armed forces. Some people think that POWs like John McCain are heroes because of the sacrifices they made for their Country. Trump says that doesn't make them heroes. He likes people who don't get captured. That is the context.


There is not an honest soul in the country who does not know that Trump thinks people are fools to serve in the military.

But still his cult worships the orange idol.
 
Well...let's see...I can support your psychobabble explanation of what Trump REALLY means when he says stuff...or I can support his actions in regard to the members of our military.

Hmmm...which one is based on reality, I wonder?

Yeah...this is a no-brainer question.

/thread dismissed
/head buried in sand
 
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There is not an honest soul in the country who does not know that Trump thinks people are fools to serve in the military.

But still his cult worships the orange idol.

In what way does making fun of the President's physical appearance contribute to productive discourse?
 
Get back to me on that after you have been here a lot longer.

Is your reasoning that after I have been on this particular forum a while longer, I will come to appreciate the nuanced ways in which calling another human being a 'sack of poop" fosters an environment of respectful discourse?
 
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