President Donald Trump purports to love the military and support the troops, but conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin couldn't help but notice that he seems to insult them a lot.
In his Monday White House press "rally," Trump was asked about the Atlantic report in which sources said the president called fallen soldiers "losers" and "suckers" for being willing to die for their country. In his response, Trump swore he never insulted the military, and then went on to insult the military.
"The top people in the Pentagon probably aren’t [my supporters], because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy, but we're getting out of the endless wars, you know how we're doing," Trump claimed.
Rubin explained that Trump was basically alleging everyone in the Pentagon is a "bloodthirsty warmongers."
While there are certainly issues with the military-industrial complex, "the notion that generals want wars reveals his utter lack of understanding of the sacred responsibility commanders have for the troops and the sacrifices their own families have endured," Rubin wrote. Only a man shamed for having avoided war could imagine that those who serve are bloodthirsty savages."
The comment comes after Trump falsely bragged about spending more money on the military than any other president.
It's something Rubin noted is part of a pattern with Trump, who may deny his "losers" and "suckers" comment, but he's made the same point in other instances. When speaking to the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, Trump said the fallen soldier “knew what he signed up for.”
In the book A Very Stable Genius, Trump called the service chiefs “a bunch of dopes and babies” and at one point shouted, “You’re all losers. You don’t know how to win anymore.” Even during the 2016 campaign, the draft-dodger claimed, "I know more than the generals, believe me."
"He simply cannot help himself," Rubin explained.
She went on to cite the president's niece, Mary L. Trump, who wrote in her recent book that military service in the Trump family was "scorned" and not celebrated.
“Growing up in a mansion in Jamaica Estates in Queens, Trump heard the family criticize those who joined the military instead of going into business," Michael Kranish wrote, paraphrasing the book. "Trump and his father, Fred Trump Sr., were especially harsh in criticizing the decision by Donald’s older brother, Fred Jr., to join the U.S. Air National Guard.”
“My father was frequently ridiculed for his career choices and disparaged for serving our country by both his father and by his brother Donald," Mary Trump recalled.
Rubin related Trump to someone who tries to fake that they're fluent in a foreign language.
"Over and over, he makes glaring errors because he has no idea what he is talking about," Rubin closed. "At this point, only the most committed cult members believe Trump’s denials. The rest of us can see and hear for him for ourselves. Trump’s enormous ego and his shameful conduct when asked to serve mean he can never accord our military men and women — at whatever rank — the respect they deserve."