#Republicans disrespect fallen veterans

[rejectingrepublicans]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Sanjana Karanth at HuffPost:

The Gold Star families who invited former President Donald Trump to Arlington National Cemetery issued a statement defending the Republican nominee’s controversial visit and claiming it is Vice President Kamala Harris, not Trump, who is politicizing fallen members of the U.S. military. On Sunday, the Trump campaign released the statement made by relatives of some of the 13 American military service members who were killed in a suicide bombing during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. The statement is the latest in what has now been a weeklong spat between Trump and Harris in relation to the former president’s conduct at the cemetery.

“President Trump was invited by us, the Gold Star families, to attend the solemn ceremonies commemorating the three-year anniversary of our children’s deaths,” the statement read. “He was there to honor their sacrifice, yet Vice President Harris has disgracefully twisted this sacred moment into a political ploy.” The Republican faced public backlash on Monday after NPR reported that his campaign staff “verbally abused and pushed” a cemetery official who was trying to stop them from filming and taking photographs at the gravesite while the candidate participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the personal invitation of some Gold Star families. The cemetery official has reportedly declined to press charges over the matter.

Harris accused Trump on Saturday of staging a “political stunt” at the cemetery that “disrespected sacred ground” where hundreds of thousands of U.S. service members, veterans and their families are buried. She also mentioned the many examples of her 2024 opponent, who himself evaded the military draft, disparaging service members, including those who are dead.

[...] Federal law prohibits “political campaign or election-related activities” within Army National Military Cemeteries, according to a statement from ANC. Defense officials also maintained that Trump’s campaign team was informed of those rules, which include no photo or video around a section specifically reserved for those recently killed. Despite those rules, Trump’s campaign still distributed photos and video from the visit, including a TikTok video of the ceremony that shows the former president making clear political statements. Trump also posted video testimonials on social media from some of the Gold Star relatives who signed the Sunday statement. “Disgusting. Donald Trump, the grave markers veterans and military families drop a knee to are not your political props,” the narrator in a fiery ad by progressive veterans group VoteVets said. “They represent the heroes we’ve served alongside, men and women you could never measure up to, friends who lived and died by the oath we all swore to uphold.” In a post on Sunday, the former president thanked the families for thanking him and wanting to “take pictures, that it was your request, not mine, but it was my Great Honor to do. I WILL NEVER FORGET!” He also inserted politics into the post by saying that the families’ service member relatives are dead because of Harris and Biden.

Some of the Gold Star Families who invited Donald Trump to Arlington National Cemetery defend him in the wake of Trump’s grotesque disrespect of the sacred ground by doing filming and photography for campaign purposes in Section 60 of the cemetery.

See Also:

The Guardian: Trump shares posts of Gold Star families praising cemetery visit and criticizing Harris

[mongoose232323]

#LosersAndSuckers

If They Really Exist, If People Really Exist That Would Have Said That, They’re Lowlifes And They’re Liars, And I Would Be Willing To Swear On Anything That I Never Said That About Our Fallen Heroes. There Is Nobody That Respects Them More.

~ Donald J. Trump ~

UNDERSTAND

Nothing Happens At The White House

Without Donald Trump’s Approval

So FIVE-TIME Draft Dodger Donald Trump

Has Ordered The Removal Of A Flag

Honoring Veterans From The White House!!

WHAT A POS!!

From The Article

A decision by the Trump administration earlier this year to move the flag honoring missing war veterans from a prominent position atop the White House to a less visible spot on the South Lawn has angered some veterans and lawmakers, who see it as disrespectful and potentially illegal.

The flag is dedicated to prisoners of war and service members who are missing in action. According to a White House video posted in June, it was relocated in a private ceremony with full military honors, months after President Donald Trump signed into law a bill requiring the flag to be flown at certain federal sites including the White House every day.

The revelations come amid growing questions over Trump's respect for the military, after a report last week by the Atlantic magazine alleging that Trump had called fallen American soldiers "losers" and "suckers" sparked outrage and controversy.

Trump denied the assertions, but has publicly disparaged the service of the late Senator John McCain, a war veteran, and was accused of criticizing his own generals in excerpts of a forthcoming book titled "Rage," by Bob Woodward.

"It's bad enough that President Trump publicly ridicules American heroes like Senator McCain and others who were captured on the battlefield. He inexplicably promotes the Confederate flag but fails to fly the POW/MIA flag," said Democratic Senator Jack Reed, a co-sponsor of the bill. "It's part of a pattern of disrespect by President Trump toward those who honorably served our nation."

Reed, and fellow Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Margaret Hassan, who also co-sponsored the bill, sent a letter to the White House on Thursday requesting that it reconsider the flag's relocation.

"This decision to abruptly move the POW/MIA Flag from atop the White House to an area that is apparently not visible to the public may violate federal law and does not appropriately honor the service and sacrifices of American prisoners of war, missing servicemembers, and their families," the letter reads.

The White House defended the change of venue but did not offer a reason for it.

"President Trump dedicated a POW/MIA memorial site earlier this year on the White House grounds to forever remember our heroic service members who were prisoners of war or missing in action," White House spokesman Judd Deere said. "The President selected a site on the Southwest corner of the South Lawn for this prominent and sacred memorial, which is visible to all those who visit the White House, that features the POW/MIA flag," he added.

The black and white flag, which reads "you are not forgotten," depicts a man beneath a guard tower gazing down at a barbed wire fence. Roughly 82,000 American servicemembers are still missing since World War Two.

U.S. law requires the flag to be displayed in a "manner designed to ensure visibility to the public." In its current position, it can be viewed from limited vantage points outside the White House complex.

The American Ex-Prisoners of War group, which represents 10,000 former POWs and their families, said it was outraged last month when it learned of the move, calling it a "slap in the face."

"While he touts his support for the U.S. Armed Forces and their families, actions speak louder than words. And this action speaks of disdain for Prisoners of War and the Missing in Action," the group said.

The bill, co-sponsored by Republicans including Senators Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton and John Thune, was signed by Trump in November and sought to give the flag a lasting place of prominence.

Over Memorial Day weekend this May, Trump touted his signing of the law to representatives of Rolling Thunder, a veterans advocacy group.

In the months since, that righteous flag has proudly flown over the White House; you probably noticed it today," Trump told them.

But its relocation prompted inquiries from veterans advocates, including Artie Muller, founder and executive director of Rolling Thunder, who said he "wasn't too happy" when he learned of the change.

"It was supposed to be over the White House," he said, adding that he did not see it as illegal or disrespectful, but hoped it would be restored to its prior location to increase visibility.

Ann Mills-Griffiths, chairman and chief executive officer of the National League of POW/MIA Families, said that "working-level White House staff members" had been made aware of the concern over the flag not being flown over the White House.

For its part, the American legion said it was pleased that the flag "flies 24/7 at its own POW/MIA Memorial on White House grounds."

https://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUKKBN2621E9

[go-21newstv]

Trump on defensive as critics seize on reports he insulted US veterans

Trump on defensive as critics seize on reports he insulted US veterans

[ad_1]

President Donald Trump was on the defensive on Sunday over what critics said was a “pattern” of disrespect towards the U.S. military following media reports that he had disparaged fallen veterans, the fallout from which could harm his campaign for re-election on Nov. 3.

Democratic and Republican opponents alike over the weekend seized on the reports – which said that Trump had called U.S.…

[patriotimmigrant]

VIDEO ATTACHED Biden lambastes Trump over report on comments about wounded soldiers "WILMINGTON, Del. — A visibly angry Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Friday lashed President Trump over reporting that Mr. Trump had made extraordinarily disrespectful remarks about fallen soldiers, suggesting that such words further confirm his view that the Republican is unfit to serve as commander in chief. In a fiery speech and subsequent news conference, Mr. Biden strained to contain his outrage about a report by The Atlantic that Mr. Trump had referred to American soldiers killed in combat during World War I as “losers” and “suckers” and had repeatedly shown disdain for military service at other points in his presidency. Mr. Trump and a number of his aides have denied the reporting, which cited several sources but did not name them. “If what is written in The Atlantic is true, it’s disgusting,” Mr. Biden said in remarks he delivered in a gymnasium a short drive from his home. “It affirms what most of us believe to be true: that Donald Trump is not fit to be commander in chief.” Ticking through a list of other well-documented instances in which Mr. Trump has dismissed the sacrifices of military veterans, including those of the late Senator John McCain, Mr. Biden continued, “President Trump has demonstrated he has no sense of service, no loyalty to any cause other than himself.” Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/us/politics/biden-trump-soliders-insults.html #BidenHarris2020 #VoteBlue #removeTrump #trumpKilledYourFamily https://www.instagram.com/p/CEu4hjMn5WY/?igshid=1ga7smluwf9w5

[gibsongirlselections]

The Atlantic Hit Piece Makes No Sense

Last Thursday the Atlantic’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg wrote and published a scathing expose of Trump’s alleged comments concerning veterans, in which Trump was cited calling them “suckers” and “losers.” Referencing multiple but unnamed sources, the article successively catalogued several years of Trump’s disparaging comments. The Orange Man said mean things? What a scoop!

Like clockwork, the article’s publication sent shock waves across social media and primetime outlets. NeverTrumpers like Joe Scarborough and Russia-gate grifters like Seth Abramson furiously tweeted their outrage, delivering drug-like euphoria to their TDS-positive followers. The MSM predictably paraded former generals across their platforms, roundly condemning Trump’s alleged comments. So egregious were his transgressions, that even the “Hero of the Hudson”, Sully Sullenberger, slammed Trump as “selfish” and a “coward.”

The late baseball great Yogi Berra once quipped, “it’s déjà vu all over again.” While his humorous wisdom was in reference to back-to-back home runs off the bats of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, his observation could also be applied to the latest drama surrounding President Trump and his relationship to the military and veterans. But what is happening all over again isn’t Trump and his controversial opinions, it is the efforts of the war state and their media allies to sink Trump’s presidential hopes by portraying him as unpatriotic. Thing is, it hasn’t been working so well.

What was done to John Kerry in 2004 and Trump since 2015 are pages from the same rally-round-the-flag playbook. But while John Kerry’s campaign was torpedoed by the Swift Boat veterans and his Iraq war flip-flop voting gaffe, the USS Donald Trump has so far proved to be unsinkable despite absorbing much more severe and frequent attacks. What changed? Simply, the Blob’s narrative has been completely delegitimized by the passage of time and reality, and the average voter has taken notice.

In the presidential campaigning season of 2004, the George W. Bush team formulated a brilliant attack line against Democratic challenger John Kerry. The infamous gaffe, “I actually voted for it, before I voted against it”, would haunt his campaign and become the basis for his label as a flip-flopper on important issues. The legislation in question, as most recall, was an $87 billion supplemental military appropriations bill for Iraq and Afghanistan. Senator Kerry voted for an earlier version that paid for the appropriation by repealing certain parts of President Bush’s signature tax cuts. He would later vote against the final bill in protest of military policy in Iraq. As his campaign spokesman said in his defense, “better an inarticulate answer than an inarticulate policy that has cost American lives.” It didn’t seem to matter; the label stuck.

And even more damaging was the emergence of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Several veterans who served with John Kerry in Vietnam, with the financial aid of Republican donors, launched a political advocacy group to challenge Senator Kerry’s account of his wartime service, deny and correct his allegations of war crimes, and block his aspirations to become Commander-in-Chief. Their television ads were political superweapons, framing Senator Kerry as unpatriotic, dishonest, and militarily incompetent.

The tactics of these attacks operate via a simple rhetorical method. Veterans represent the nation in challenging and difficult service and are considered noble for what they volunteered or were drafted to do. Our culture traditionally exalts sacrifice and putting the nation before yourself. It represents the ultimate virtue. To oppose them in any way comes off as dishonorable and offensive to what they represent: not themselves, but the nation. Transitive property, opposing the troops means opposing America, not a good look for those seeking public office. Kerry’s voting gaffe falls in this category, while the Swiftboater attacks combined appeal to authority, in the form of other veterans, with Kerry’s alleged disrespect for their service record. This writer, for one, found this line of attack very persuasive as a first-time voter in 2004. I likely wasn’t alone, as George W. Bush easily won reelection.

Fast forward to the political candidacy of Donald Trump in 2015. As the Atlantic article revisits, Trump attacked John McCain’s record, saying he’s “not a war hero.” Then, as now, Trump was raked across the coals. What would sink most presidential campaigns just became another daily dose of controversy from Trump’s unorthodox campaign. Not only did he not apologize or repent, he continued his attacks.

Who can forget the presidential debate on the eve of the South Carolina primary? Prompted by the moderator, Trump doubled down on past comments he made about President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq. Calling it a “big fat mistake”, Trump lamented the loss of lives and treasure, concluding that “we should have never been in Iraq.” Jeb! countered with an awkward defense of his family, even bringing his sainted mother into the conversation. Trump was met by jeers and Jeb by cheers, but when the votes were tallied it was a Trump landslide, winning 32% of the vote to Jeb’s 7%. Questioning the Iraq war in 2004 was dangerous politically; in 2016 it was advantageous. 

Perhaps, with the passage of time, the average voter became of the same mind as Candidate Trump. They witnessed more treasure squandered (6 trillion as of 2019), more lives lost (801,000), no stability or “mission accomplishment”, all the while being conditioned by the media to maintain course. President Bush’s claim in late 2003, that Iraqi democracy building was “worth our effort and sacrifice” turned out to be utterly false. When democracy is handed to Islamic countries, they vote for sharia law, not for freedom of speech and consumption of alcohol. Who could have thunk it? This change of heart was gradual. Ron Paul enjoyed tremendous grassroots support in 2008 for his heroic stand against forever war, and then Candidate Obama appeared to be inclined towards peace. The election of 2016 represented the tipping point, at least on the Republican side of the aisle.

That was Trump the candidate. Five years later his record as President can be analyzed. There is much to lament: U.S. troops are still in Syria, Afghanistan is about to celebrate two decades of nation building, U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s barbarous campaign in Yemen has not ceased, and the defense budget is as “yuge” as ever. However, as TAC columnist Peter Van Buren wrote recently, under Trump U.S. foreign policy is trending in the right direction. In spite of both political parties, the beltway Blob, the media, even his own confounding choices like John Bolton, Trump has managed to deliver on his instincts towards de-escalation. Troop levels are down in Syria and Afghanistan, no new wars have been started, and most importantly, U.S. military fatalities have fallen from 1,912 under Obama to 123 under Trump. 

How is it then, Mr. Goldberg, that fewer dead service members is proof Trump hates veterans? Is General John Kelly’s son Robert worth more to his country in his grave at Arlington or alive and well with his family? According to The Atlantic, it seems to be the former. In 2004 the method was hiding behind the troops while they were alive. In 2020 it’s hiding behind the troops when they are dead. The media is truly shameless. 

As mentioned above, the virtue and selflessness our volunteers display is, in and of itself, noble. But a critical distinction must be made. It is the idea of sacrifice that is noble, not sacrifice itself. There is nothing fundamentally good or desirable about young men and women being maimed and killed on distant soil. Not in World War II, and not now. Each death is the shattered life of a grieving American family. A mother’s son, a father’s pride, husbands, fathers, wives, friends, gone, forever. 

While visiting Robert’s grave, Trump allegedly said “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?” The Atlantic presents Trump’s comments as proof positive he doesn’t understand or appreciate their sacrifice. Support the troops or else. But what worked magic in 2004 against John Kerry didn’t work in 2016 and it might now work again in 2020. Why? The first reason is Trump himself. Despite his crassness and superficial callousness, whether it was his own instincts, his transactional business worldview, or his political cunning in observing the electorate, Trump has done something remarkable. He has shattered the narrative maintained by the war machine by redefining what it means to “support the troops.” 

At Dover Air Force base in 2019, Trump hosted an emotional press conference where he claimed the “hardest thing” he had to do as Commander-in-Chief is sign letters for Gold Star families. He showed us that it is possible to support them while simultaneously questioning the “endless wars” they have been engaged in. The second reason is the electorate. Upon hearing his peace-like message in 2016, voters gave him a chance. Hit pieces like those published by The Atlantic will continue, as recently promised by Mr. Goldberg himself. Whether they will be enough to finally sink his movement will be known in just a few months.

As Richard Nixon said, the greatest title history can bestow is one of peacemaker. Win or lose in 2020, President Trump should be remembered not for being the perfect peacemaker, but for his genuine attempts at simply giving peace a chance against the overwhelming and well financed forces opposing him. 

Jeff Groom is a former Marine officer. He is the author of American Cobra Pilot: A Marine Remembers a Dog and Pony Show (2018). Follow him on Twitter @BigsbyGroom.

The post <i>The Atlantic</i> Hit Piece Makes No Sense appeared first on The American Conservative.

[marymosley]

Adrift Over The Atlantic: How The President and The Press Destroyed The Ability Of The Public To Judge Scandals

Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the recent controversy surrounding The Atlantic article on alleged comments by President Donald Trump disparaging veterans and war dead buried at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery. I have been highly critical of President Trump response, particularly his calling for the firing of a Fox reporter for confirming elements of the story.  In truth, Fox did not confirm that Trump called the dead buried at the French cemetery “losers” and “suckers.” However, there are sources that have said that Trump used such terms to describe Vietnam veterans. Conversely, in an interview with CNN, the author of the article Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was confronted by strong rebuttals by various officials over the assertion that the cancellation of the Trump visit was due to his concern over his hair or a disparaging view of the fallen.  When asked about documents and witnesses suggesting that the cancellation was weather related as claimed, Goldberg simply seemed to shrug and say that those accounts might be true but that Trump still holds disrespectful views of veterans.  That was hardly a resounding defense of those elements of his article. Moreover, when the evidence was presented that the helicopter was grounded, Goldberg noted that the grounding is insulting to Marines who said that they can fly in any weather. However, again, that is not what the story said and it was the military that objected to flying (the issue was not that the helicopter could not fly but that it would have to fly too low for the safety of the President). The problem for many in the public is that we have lost any presumption that either the president or the press is a reliable source in such controversies. Indeed, according to polls, a majority find both untrustworthy. This is where the cost of such eroded trust are the highest. After years of lying or bias, both sides have left the public with no credible basis to know the truth in a major scandal.

Here is the column:

Until this week, the most famous quote related to World War I’s Battle of Belleau Wood was U.S. Marine Capt. Lloyd Williams’ declaration to a French commander: “Retreat, hell! We just got here.” Now, a more famous quote could well become President Trump’s alleged description of the battle’s fallen Americans as “losers.”

Like the war itself, today’s political battle is between entrenched forces — Trump and Republicans on one side, Democrats and the media on the other. In the middle are the rest of us. The lack of movement by public opinion may not reflect an even split of support but, rather, a widespread view of both sides as equally unbelievable.

This latest controversy was triggered by an Atlantic article written by the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. The article alleges damaging statements by Trump, such as dismissing the dead buried at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery as “losers” and “suckers.” What is most striking about this story is that, ordinarily, it would be entirely unbelievable. What person, let alone an American president, would refer to brave Americans in such terms?

The problem is, Trump has made a long line of such unbelievable comments and then lied about them. Indeed, in denying this latest story, he insisted “I never called John [McCain] a loser.” Yet, in 2015, he indeed did say of McCain, a former prisoner of war, “I like people who weren’t captured,” and later referred to the former Republican presidential nominee with “I don’t like losers.”

He later retweeted a headline: “Donald Trump: John McCain Is ‘A Loser.’ ” A Fox News reporter said that her own sources confirmed that Trump disparaged veterans and did not want to drive to the cemetery. Trump has reached a point where there is nothing that most of us would rule out in terms of shocking or offensive statements. He often refers to people as “losers” and allegedly once said that of those who fought in Vietnam instead of getting a deferment or medical exclusion, as he did.

If an article included such an alleged statement by either President Bush, it would have been dismissed instantly as ridiculous. Over the past three years Trump has made himself vulnerable to such allegations, due to his history of outrageous remarks.

Yet the same is true of the media. Three years ago, a story of this kind would have been devastating for any president — but the media has rendered itself as unbelievable as the subject of its current ire. While denouncing Trump as a pathological liar, the media has been pathologically biased. Polls consistently show the media racing Trump to the bottom on trustworthiness. Most of the media now feeds a steady diet of unrelentingly negative stories to a shrinking audience of true believers.

As a result, the media has hit a historic low, with less than half of the populace finding it credible. Some polls show that the only group deemed less trustworthy than Trump is the media. The Knight Foundation has found that three-fourths of the public believe the media is too biased; some 54 percent believe reporters regularly misrepresent facts, and 28 percent believe reporters make things up entirely.

There is a reason for this view of bias: It’s true. Many journalists do not attempt to hide their anti-Trump agendas. In the age of “echo-journalism,” it is even viewed as an essential commitment on some networks. False stories have been published regularly, only to be quietly withdrawn or “corrected” after the news cycle has run.

Indeed, as reporters pummeled the White House with angry questions over the Atlantic story, a press conference held by Democratic nominee Joe Biden was the very image of deference and decorum. Reporters seemed to go out of their way to confirm months of criticism over the softball treatment given to Biden. Atlantic staff writer Edward Isaac Dovere asked Biden: “When you hear these remarks — ‘suckers,’ ‘losers,’ recoiling from amputees — what does it tell you about President Trump’s soul and the life he leads?”

There was a time when a statement in a major publication was taken as true. My children, however, have no such presumption about any news source. Even more disturbing, neither do I these days. The Atlantic article embodies the discomfort with movement journalism. It has been the repository of all things anti-Trump, with such articles as “Donald Trump, the Most Unmanly President” and “Donald Trump is a Broken Man.” Past claims in the Atlantic on the Trump campaign, like former Attorney General Jeff Sessions colluding with Russians, were debunked by the special counsel investigation. In an age of echo chamber journalism, The Atlantic is deafening.

The core alleged comment, attributed to unnamed sources, has been denied by a host of officials who were with Trump in France at that time, including figures like former national security adviser John Bolton. The article also states that Trump did not visit the cemetery in part over his concern that the rainy day would mess up his hair, but White House documents show that, as stated at the time, the military notified his staff that the presidential helicopter should be grounded. Bolton has confirmed the weather was the reason and noted that, if this story were true, he would have made it a chapter in his anti-Trump book. Trump might not have wanted to go, but the reason was a bad helicopter day, not a bad hair day.

Other allegations include Trump deriding the death of the son of Gen. John Kelly at his Arlington gravesite. Kelly has not commented on whether Trump expressed disbelief that such men would give their lives for their country: “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?” Kelly should now confirm or deny it. Indeed, if true, what many of us do not get is why Kelly would not only ignore such a vile question but continue to serve as Trump’s Homeland Security secretary and, later, as White House chief of staff.

The real story this week is not whether Trump or The Atlantic are lying but why either possibility is viewed as equally plausible. The public is left with an incredible tale told by two equally noncredible sources. That is the real story — and a truly sad one.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. You can find his updates online @JonathanTurley.

Adrift Over The Atlantic: How The President and The Press Destroyed The Ability Of The Public To Judge Scandals published first on https://immigrationlawyerto.tumblr.com/

[brajeshupadhyay]

'It's unthinkable': Donald Trump angrily denies report he called fallen US World War I soldiers ‘losers’ and ‘suckers’

Washington: President Donald Trump heatedly denied on Thursday night that he had referred to American soldiers killed in combat during World War I as “losers” and “suckers,” moving quickly to avoid losing support among the military and its allies just two months before an election.

Marching over to reporters under the wing of Air Force One after returning from a campaign rally, a visibly angry Trump rebutted a magazine report that he decided against visiting a cemetery for American soldiers in France in 2018 because he feared the rain would mess up his hair and he did not believe it was important to honor the war dead.

“If people really exist that would have said that, they’re lowlifes and they’re liars,” Trump shouted above the noise of the plane’s engines. “And I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes. There is nobody that respects them more.” He added, “What animal would say such a thing?”

The report in The Atlantic magazine by its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, attributed the episode to “four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day,” but he did not name them. During a conversation with senior officials that day, according to the magazine, Trump said: “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” On the same trip, the article said, he referred to American Marines slain in combat at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.

The article also said that Trump’s well-known antipathy for Senator John McCain, R-Ariz. and a Vietnam War hero, was on display after the senator’s death in August 2018. “We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral,” the article quotes Trump telling his staff. He became furious at seeing flags lowered to half-staff. “What the fuck are we doing that for? Guy was a fucking loser,” the president told aides, according to the article.

The report could be problematic for Trump because he is counting on strong support among the military for his reelection bid. He has made his backing for increased military spending, troop pay raises and improved veterans care pillars of his campaign at the same time he boasts of ratcheting down “endless wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But he has also clashed with the military leadership by extending clemency to accused and convicted war criminals, seeking to order active-duty forces into the streets of Washington to crack down on demonstrations and trying to block an effort to change the names of Army bases named for Confederate generals.

A new poll by The Military Times taken before the party conventions last month and released this week showed former vice-president Joe Biden leading Trump, 41 percent to 37 percent, among active-duty troops, a stark departure from the military’s long-standing support for Republicans.

People familiar with Trump’s comments say he has long scorned those who served in Vietnam as being too dumb to have gotten out of it, as he did through a medical diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels. At other times, according to those familiar with the remarks, Trump would marvel at people choosing military service over making money.

Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, sought on Thursday night to capitalize on the Atlantic article, quickly issuing a statement condemning the president and saying it demonstrated that Trump was not fit for the office. Biden said the article, if true, showed “another marker of how deeply President Trump and I disagree about the role of the president of the United States.”

“I have long said that, as a nation, we have many obligations, but we only have one truly sacred obligation — to prepare and equip those we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families, both while they are deployed and after they return home. That’s the foundation of what Jill and I believe,” said Biden, whose late son, Beau Biden, served overseas. “If I have the honor of serving as the next commander in chief, I will ensure that our American heroes know that I will have their back and honor their sacrifice — always.”

Trump’s trip to Paris in November 2018 came at a tense moment for him. Republicans had just lost the House in midterm elections when he flew to France to attend a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

During the trip, he was angered when President Emmanuel Macron of France seemed to rebuke Trump by saying in a speech that “nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism by saying: ‘Our interest first. Who cares about the others?’”

But it was Trump’s failure to go through with a planned visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery at the foot of the hill where the Battle of Belleau Wood was fought that drew the most attention.

Aides at the time cited the rain in canceling a helicopter flight, but the president’s absence went over badly in Europe and in the United States. Trump did pay respects to the war dead the next day at the Suresnes American Cemetery outside Paris.

At the time of the visit to France, advisers were blunt in confiding that Trump was in a foul mood and was quizzing aides about whether he should replace John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general and his White House chief of staff at the time.

Several White House officials at the time said the decision that Trump would not take Marine One to the Belleau Wood cemetery was made by Zachary Fuentes, a deputy White House chief of staff and close aide to Kelly, without consulting the president’s military aide.

Others argued that a motorcade trip by road would have taken too long, at roughly two hours. Administration officials said at the time that Fuentes had assured Trump it was fine to miss the visit. Kelly traveled to the cemetery himself in the president’s place along with General Joseph Dunford, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Trump insisted on Thursday that it was the weather, not disrespect, that forced the visit to be scrapped. “It was raining about as hard as I’ve ever seen,” he said. “And on top of that, it was very, very foggy. And the helicopter was unable to fly.”

To go by ground, he added, the motorcade would have had to wind its way through congested areas of Paris for more than two hours. “The Secret Service told me, ‘You can’t do it,’” he said. “I said, ‘I have to do it. I want to be there.’ They said, ‘You can’t do it.’”

A half-dozen current and former aides to Trump backed him up with Twitter messages disputing The Atlantic article. “I was actually there and one of the people part of the discussion — this never happened,” wrote Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was then the White House press secretary. “This is not even close to being factually accurate,” added Jordan Karem, the president’s personal aide at the time.

The reported comments about McCain, though, were consistent with Trump’s publicly expressed view of the senator. In 2015, while seeking the Republican nomination over McCain’s opposition, Trump famously mocked the senator’s military service and 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, “He’s not a war hero,” Trump said. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

McCain remained a thorn in Trump’s side after he won the presidency, blocking an effort to overturn President Barack Obama’s health care programme, a vote Trump never forgave and still speaks about with bitterness. When McCain died, aides said at the time, the president had to be shamed into lowering the flags and he was not invited to the funeral.

But speaking with reporters Thursday night, Trump insisted that he respected McCain even though they disagreed.

“I was never a fan. I will admit that openly,” Trump said. But “we lowered the flags. I had to approve that, nobody else, I had to approve it. When you think — just thinking back, I had to approve either Air Force One or a military plane to go to Arizona to pick up his casket. And I approved it immediately. I had to approve the funeral because he had a first-class, triple-A funeral. It lasted for nine days, by the way. I had to approve it. All of that had to be approved by the president. I approved it without hesitation, without complaint.”

He seemed to suggest that The Atlantic’s article came from several former aides that he had in mind. “Probably it’s a couple of people that have been failures in the administration that I got rid of,” he said. “I couldn’t get rid of them fast enough. Or it was just made up. But it’s unthinkable.”

Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman c.2020 The New York Times Company

via Blogger https://ift.tt/3i0em02

[dani-qrt]

Sacha Baron Cohen

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Provocative British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s new television show is making headlines in the United States even before its first episode is aired, with conservative figures Sarah Palin and Joe Walsh saying they were duped by him.

“Who is America?”, due to launch on Sunday on cable channel Showtime, has been shrouded in secrecy apart from a trailer showing former U.S. defense secretary Dick Cheney signing a large bottle described as a water-boarding kit.

The seven-episode series marks Baron Cohen’s first television project in a decade after he launched his comedy career as subversive white English rapper Ali G., whose interviews included Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich. His 2006 faux documentary film “Borat” ridiculed Kazakhstan and Middle Americans.

Palin, the 2008 U.S. vice-presidential candidate, says she was tricked into an interview, ostensibly about American veterans, by a person dressed as a disabled U.S. serviceman.

Former U.S. Republican congressman Joe Walsh, now a conservative talk radio host, said he was persuaded to do an interview on Israel. Walsh also called for a boycott of Showtime, a unit of CBS.

Showtime had no comment on Wednesday on the accounts by Palin and Walsh and has declined to give details of the series, or who will be appearing.

“I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick “humor” of the British “comedian” Sacha Baron Cohen,” Palin wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Palin said a man she believed to be Cohen “heavily disguised himself as a disabled U.S. Veteran, fake wheelchair and all … I sat through a long “interview” full of Hollywoodism’s disrespect and sarcasm – but finally had enough and literally, physically removed my mic and walked out.”

Walsh tweeted on Wednesday that he believed Palin’s account because “i too was duped … it was much of the same she experienced.”

Walsh, who has strong pro-Israel views, said he was invited to a dinner for defenders of Israel and asked to film an interview.

“I was rushed to the studio, production was a mess, I sat down and we started talking pro-Israel stuff, Israeli defense, and then out of left field the interviewer starts talking about how children should defend themselves against terrorist attacks,” Walsh tweeted.

He said he “stopped and questioned their direction” and then producers “rushed me out of the studio as an apparent fight broke out. Strangest interview of my life.”

Walsh included the hashtag #boycottShowtime on his series of tweets, while Palin asked Baron Cohen and Showtime to donate the proceeds from the show “to a charitable group that actually respects and supports American Vets.”

FILE PHOTO: Presenter Sacha Baron Cohen poses at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards at the Royal Opera House in London, February 14, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Rosalba O’Brien

The post Sacha Baron Cohen appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2KZKROF via Online News

[netunleashed-blog]

Sacha Baron Cohen's U.S. TV show disrupts ahead of first broadcast

http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=3373 Sacha Baron Cohen's U.S. TV show disrupts ahead of first broadcast - http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=3373 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Provocative British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s new television show is making headlines in the United States even before its first episode is aired, with conservative figures Sarah Palin and Joe Walsh saying they were duped by him. “Who is America?”, due to launch on Sunday on cable channel Showtime, has been shrouded in secrecy apart from a trailer showing former U.S. defence secretary Dick Cheney signing a large bottle described as a water-boarding kit. The seven-episode series marks Baron Cohen’s first television project in a decade after he launched his comedy career as subversive white English rapper Ali G., whose interviews included Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich. His 2006 faux documentary film “Borat” ridiculed Kazakhstan and Middle Americans. Palin, the 2008 U.S. vice-presidential candidate, says she was tricked into an interview, ostensibly about American veterans, by a person dressed as a disabled U.S. serviceman. Former U.S. Republican congressman Joe Walsh, now a conservative talk radio host, said he was persuaded to do an interview on Israel. Walsh also called for a boycott of Showtime, a unit of CBS. Showtime had no comment on Wednesday on the accounts by Palin and Walsh and has declined to give details of the series, or who will be appearing. “I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick “humour” of the British “comedian” Sacha Baron Cohen,” Palin wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. Palin said a man she believed to be Cohen “heavily disguised himself as a disabled U.S. Veteran, fake wheelchair and all ... I sat through a long “interview” full of Hollywoodism’s disrespect and sarcasm - but finally had enough and literally, physically removed my mic and walked out.” Walsh tweeted on Wednesday that he believed Palin’s account because “i too was duped ... it was much of the same she experienced.” Walsh, who has strong pro-Israel views, said he was invited to a dinner for defenders of Israel and asked to film an interview. “I was rushed to the studio, production was a mess, I sat down and we started talking pro-Israel stuff, Israeli defence, and then out of left field the interviewer starts talking about how children should defend themselves against terrorist attacks,” Walsh tweeted. He said he “stopped and questioned their direction” and then producers “rushed me out of the studio as an apparent fight broke out. Strangest interview of my life.” Walsh included the hashtag #boycottShowtime on his series of tweets, while Palin asked Baron Cohen and Showtime to donate the proceeds from the show “to a charitable group that actually respects and supports American Vets.” Cast member Sacha Baron Cohen poses at the premiere of "Alice Through the Looking Glass" at El Capitan theatre in Hollywood, U.S., May 23, 2016. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Rosalba O'Brien Source link

[dragnews]

Sacha Baron Cohen

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Provocative British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s new television show is making headlines in the United States even before its first episode is aired, with conservative figures Sarah Palin and Joe Walsh saying they were duped by him.

“Who is America?”, due to launch on Sunday on cable channel Showtime, has been shrouded in secrecy apart from a trailer showing former U.S. defense secretary Dick Cheney signing a large bottle described as a water-boarding kit.

The seven-episode series marks Baron Cohen’s first television project in a decade after he launched his comedy career as subversive white English rapper Ali G., whose interviews included Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich. His 2006 faux documentary film “Borat” ridiculed Kazakhstan and Middle Americans.

Palin, the 2008 U.S. vice-presidential candidate, says she was tricked into an interview, ostensibly about American veterans, by a person dressed as a disabled U.S. serviceman.

Former U.S. Republican congressman Joe Walsh, now a conservative talk radio host, said he was persuaded to do an interview on Israel. Walsh also called for a boycott of Showtime, a unit of CBS.

Showtime had no comment on Wednesday on the accounts by Palin and Walsh and has declined to give details of the series, or who will be appearing.

“I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick “humor” of the British “comedian” Sacha Baron Cohen,” Palin wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Palin said a man she believed to be Cohen “heavily disguised himself as a disabled U.S. Veteran, fake wheelchair and all … I sat through a long “interview” full of Hollywoodism’s disrespect and sarcasm – but finally had enough and literally, physically removed my mic and walked out.”

Walsh tweeted on Wednesday that he believed Palin’s account because “i too was duped … it was much of the same she experienced.”

Walsh, who has strong pro-Israel views, said he was invited to a dinner for defenders of Israel and asked to film an interview.

“I was rushed to the studio, production was a mess, I sat down and we started talking pro-Israel stuff, Israeli defense, and then out of left field the interviewer starts talking about how children should defend themselves against terrorist attacks,” Walsh tweeted.

He said he “stopped and questioned their direction” and then producers “rushed me out of the studio as an apparent fight broke out. Strangest interview of my life.”

Walsh included the hashtag #boycottShowtime on his series of tweets, while Palin asked Baron Cohen and Showtime to donate the proceeds from the show “to a charitable group that actually respects and supports American Vets.”

FILE PHOTO: Presenter Sacha Baron Cohen poses at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards at the Royal Opera House in London, February 14, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Rosalba O’Brien

The post Sacha Baron Cohen appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2KZKROF via Today News

[party-hard-or-die]

Sacha Baron Cohen

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Provocative British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s new television show is making headlines in the United States even before its first episode is aired, with conservative figures Sarah Palin and Joe Walsh saying they were duped by him.

“Who is America?”, due to launch on Sunday on cable channel Showtime, has been shrouded in secrecy apart from a trailer showing former U.S. defense secretary Dick Cheney signing a large bottle described as a water-boarding kit.

The seven-episode series marks Baron Cohen’s first television project in a decade after he launched his comedy career as subversive white English rapper Ali G., whose interviews included Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich. His 2006 faux documentary film “Borat” ridiculed Kazakhstan and Middle Americans.

Palin, the 2008 U.S. vice-presidential candidate, says she was tricked into an interview, ostensibly about American veterans, by a person dressed as a disabled U.S. serviceman.

Former U.S. Republican congressman Joe Walsh, now a conservative talk radio host, said he was persuaded to do an interview on Israel. Walsh also called for a boycott of Showtime, a unit of CBS.

Showtime had no comment on Wednesday on the accounts by Palin and Walsh and has declined to give details of the series, or who will be appearing.

“I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick “humor” of the British “comedian” Sacha Baron Cohen,” Palin wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Palin said a man she believed to be Cohen “heavily disguised himself as a disabled U.S. Veteran, fake wheelchair and all … I sat through a long “interview” full of Hollywoodism’s disrespect and sarcasm – but finally had enough and literally, physically removed my mic and walked out.”

Walsh tweeted on Wednesday that he believed Palin’s account because “i too was duped … it was much of the same she experienced.”

Walsh, who has strong pro-Israel views, said he was invited to a dinner for defenders of Israel and asked to film an interview.

“I was rushed to the studio, production was a mess, I sat down and we started talking pro-Israel stuff, Israeli defense, and then out of left field the interviewer starts talking about how children should defend themselves against terrorist attacks,” Walsh tweeted.

He said he “stopped and questioned their direction” and then producers “rushed me out of the studio as an apparent fight broke out. Strangest interview of my life.”

Walsh included the hashtag #boycottShowtime on his series of tweets, while Palin asked Baron Cohen and Showtime to donate the proceeds from the show “to a charitable group that actually respects and supports American Vets.”

FILE PHOTO: Presenter Sacha Baron Cohen poses at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards at the Royal Opera House in London, February 14, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Rosalba O’Brien

The post Sacha Baron Cohen appeared first on World The News.

from World The News https://ift.tt/2KZKROF via Breaking News

[theconservativebrief]

‘Heavily disguised himself as a disabled US veteran, fake wheelchair and all…’

Sarah Palin/Photo by Gage Skidmore (CC)

(AFP) Sacha Baron Cohen is back and Sarah Palin is not amused.

The US former vice presidential nominee and ex-Alaska governor has launched an extraordinary attack on the British comedian for duping her to take part in his new show.

“Ya’ got me, Sacha. Feel better now?” wrote the mother of five, once synonymous with the Tea Party movement on the far-right of the Republican Party.

Cohen, she said, “heavily disguised himself as a disabled US veteran, fake wheelchair and all,” for the interview that she was told was a “legit” historical documentary by pay-to-view American television network Showtime.

“I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick ‘humor’ of the British ‘comedian’ Sacha Baron Cohen, enabled and sponsored by CBS/Showtime,” she wrote.

Palin said she ultimately walked out of the interview and slammed what she called the Cambridge-educated comedian’s “foreign commentaries” that disrespected the US military and middle-class Americans.

She called on Cohen, CBS and Showtime to donate all proceeds from the interview to charities that support American veterans.

In a final indignity, Palin accused the production team of “purposefully” dropping her and her daughter off at the wrong Washington airport, “knowing” they would miss their return flights back to Alaska.

Cohen first found fame in Britain in 2000 with “Da Ali G Show” that saw his wannabe rapper character interview unsuspecting public figures. The show later transferred across the Atlantic.

He followed a similar format with hit movie characters that include bumbling Kazakh reporter Borat and gay Austrian fashionista Bruno.

**MORE SARAH PALIN COVERAGE at LibertyHeadlines.com**

His latest venture “Who is America?” is a satirical half-hour seven-episode series that premieres this Sunday on Showtime.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever signed a waterboard,” former vice president Dick Cheney says in a teaser for the series tweeted by Cohen this week.

A voice off camera had asked Cheney to sign his “waterboard kit” — an empty water bottle.

Original Source -> Palin Tears into ‘Sick’ Baron Cohen Over Being Pranked

via The Conservative Brief

[brajeshupadhyay]

Washington: President Donald Trump heatedly denied on Thursday night that he had referred to American soldiers killed in combat during World War I as “losers” and “suckers,” moving quickly to avoid losing support among the military and its allies just two months before an election. Marching over to reporters under the wing of Air Force One after returning from a campaign rally, a visibly angry Trump rebutted a magazine report that he decided against visiting a cemetery for American soldiers in France in 2018 because he feared the rain would mess up his hair and he did not believe it was important to honor the war dead. “If people really exist that would have said that, they’re lowlifes and they’re liars,” Trump shouted above the noise of the plane’s engines. “And I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes. There is nobody that respects them more.” He added, “What animal would say such a thing?” The report in The Atlantic magazine by its editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, attributed the episode to “four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day,” but he did not name them. During a conversation with senior officials that day, according to the magazine, Trump said: “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” On the same trip, the article said, he referred to American Marines slain in combat at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed. The article also said that Trump’s well-known antipathy for Senator John McCain, R-Ariz. and a Vietnam War hero, was on display after the senator’s death in August 2018. “We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral,” the article quotes Trump telling his staff. He became furious at seeing flags lowered to half-staff. “What the fuck are we doing that for? Guy was a fucking loser,” the president told aides, according to the article. The report could be problematic for Trump because he is counting on strong support among the military for his reelection bid. He has made his backing for increased military spending, troop pay raises and improved veterans care pillars of his campaign at the same time he boasts of ratcheting down “endless wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq. But he has also clashed with the military leadership by extending clemency to accused and convicted war criminals, seeking to order active-duty forces into the streets of Washington to crack down on demonstrations and trying to block an effort to change the names of Army bases named for Confederate generals. A new poll by The Military Times taken before the party conventions last month and released this week showed former vice-president Joe Biden leading Trump, 41 percent to 37 percent, among active-duty troops, a stark departure from the military’s long-standing support for Republicans. People familiar with Trump’s comments say he has long scorned those who served in Vietnam as being too dumb to have gotten out of it, as he did through a medical diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels. At other times, according to those familiar with the remarks, Trump would marvel at people choosing military service over making money. Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, sought on Thursday night to capitalize on the Atlantic article, quickly issuing a statement condemning the president and saying it demonstrated that Trump was not fit for the office. Biden said the article, if true, showed “another marker of how deeply President Trump and I disagree about the role of the president of the United States.” “I have long said that, as a nation, we have many obligations, but we only have one truly sacred obligation — to prepare and equip those we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families, both while they are deployed and after they return home. That’s the foundation of what Jill and I believe,” said Biden, whose late son, Beau Biden, served overseas. “If I have the honor of serving as the next commander in chief, I will ensure that our American heroes know that I will have their back and honor their sacrifice — always.” Trump’s trip to Paris in November 2018 came at a tense moment for him. Republicans had just lost the House in midterm elections when he flew to France to attend a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. During the trip, he was angered when President Emmanuel Macron of France seemed to rebuke Trump by saying in a speech that “nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism by saying: ‘Our interest first. Who cares about the others?’” But it was Trump’s failure to go through with a planned visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery at the foot of the hill where the Battle of Belleau Wood was fought that drew the most attention. Aides at the time cited the rain in canceling a helicopter flight, but the president’s absence went over badly in Europe and in the United States. Trump did pay respects to the war dead the next day at the Suresnes American Cemetery outside Paris. At the time of the visit to France, advisers were blunt in confiding that Trump was in a foul mood and was quizzing aides about whether he should replace John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general and his White House chief of staff at the time. Several White House officials at the time said the decision that Trump would not take Marine One to the Belleau Wood cemetery was made by Zachary Fuentes, a deputy White House chief of staff and close aide to Kelly, without consulting the president’s military aide. Others argued that a motorcade trip by road would have taken too long, at roughly two hours. Administration officials said at the time that Fuentes had assured Trump it was fine to miss the visit. Kelly traveled to the cemetery himself in the president’s place along with General Joseph Dunford, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Trump insisted on Thursday that it was the weather, not disrespect, that forced the visit to be scrapped. “It was raining about as hard as I’ve ever seen,” he said. “And on top of that, it was very, very foggy. And the helicopter was unable to fly.” To go by ground, he added, the motorcade would have had to wind its way through congested areas of Paris for more than two hours. “The Secret Service told me, ‘You can’t do it,’” he said. “I said, ‘I have to do it. I want to be there.’ They said, ‘You can’t do it.’” A half-dozen current and former aides to Trump backed him up with Twitter messages disputing The Atlantic article. “I was actually there and one of the people part of the discussion — this never happened,” wrote Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was then the White House press secretary. “This is not even close to being factually accurate,” added Jordan Karem, the president’s personal aide at the time. The reported comments about McCain, though, were consistent with Trump’s publicly expressed view of the senator. In 2015, while seeking the Republican nomination over McCain’s opposition, Trump famously mocked the senator’s military service and 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, “He’s not a war hero,” Trump said. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” McCain remained a thorn in Trump’s side after he won the presidency, blocking an effort to overturn President Barack Obama’s health care programme, a vote Trump never forgave and still speaks about with bitterness. When McCain died, aides said at the time, the president had to be shamed into lowering the flags and he was not invited to the funeral. But speaking with reporters Thursday night, Trump insisted that he respected McCain even though they disagreed. “I was never a fan. I will admit that openly,” Trump said. But “we lowered the flags. I had to approve that, nobody else, I had to approve it. When you think — just thinking back, I had to approve either Air Force One or a military plane to go to Arizona to pick up his casket. And I approved it immediately. I had to approve the funeral because he had a first-class, triple-A funeral. It lasted for nine days, by the way. I had to approve it. All of that had to be approved by the president. I approved it without hesitation, without complaint.” He seemed to suggest that The Atlantic’s article came from several former aides that he had in mind. “Probably it’s a couple of people that have been failures in the administration that I got rid of,” he said. “I couldn’t get rid of them fast enough. Or it was just made up. But it’s unthinkable.” Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman c.2020 The New York Times Company

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/09/its-unthinkable-donald-trump-angrily.html