President Donald Trump got quite a surprise when The Atlantic published an article about him, claiming that he referred to fallen soldiers as both “losers” and “suckers.” The story was based on anonymous sources. As a result, multiple people have gone on record to dispute the claim in The Atlantic’s article.
Even John Bolton, a known foe of Trump, has partially disputed the claim as well. It should be known his dispute is only partial because Bolton says he didn’t hear Trump say those words. Bolton also pointed out that it’s possible Trump could have said them during another time of the day, but not while Bolton was there and/or part of the discussion.
John Bolton said to Fox News, “I didn’t hear either of those comments or anything even resembling them. I was there at the point in time that morning when it was decided that he would not go Aisne-Marne cemetery. He decided not to do it because of John Kelly’s recommendation. It was entirely a weather-related decision, and I thought the proper thing to do. I never heard he made that kind of comment about another country’s forces either, no.”
Many speculate that John Bolton would have mentioned this in his book, and there’s no mention of it in the book.
Another person who denies the claim by The Atlantic is Derek Lyons. He’s a counselor and staff secretary to President Donald Trump. He is said to have made a statement, that was relayed by White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany.
Lyons’ statement said:
I was with the president the morning after the scheduled visit. He was extremely disappointed that arrangements could not be made to get him to the site and that the trip had been cancelled. I have worked with the president for his entire administration. One of my responsibilities is working with him on the many letters he signs to the families of our nation’s fallen heroes. In all my time at the White House. I have never heard him utter a disparaging remark of any kind about our troops. In my view, he holds the brave men and women of our armed forces in the highest regard. (Daily Wire)
McEnany also referred to The Atlantic’s article as “fake news” as she discussed people who have debunked the story with their own personal account or opinion, and have gone on public record to do so.
McEnany said:
Also, I want to address what is quite clearly fake news. The story in the Atlantic has been categorically debunked by eyewitnesses and contemporaneous documents. The Atlantic claims “When President Trump canceled the visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed rain for the last minute decision according to the Atlantic, saying the helicopter couldn’t fly, and that Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true, says the Atlantic. That has been debunked.
Behind me, you will see an email from one of the president’s military aides that clearly reads, “We are at bad weather call for it today’s lift.” The Atlantic reporting is based on four cowardly and an anonymous sources who probably did not even exist. Meanwhile, within hours, 10 sources, 10 went on the record debunking these lies, 8 with first-hand knowledge stating on the record 1 common truth, that this story is false. It never happened. (Real Clear Politics)
As of now, there are about ten people who have come forward in support of Trump and against the claims in The Atlantic article.
One other bit of information that many might find interesting is that a majority owner of The Atlantic has donated over $1.2 million to Democrats and groups since 2019, including Joe Biden, as per a report on Daily Caller who cites Federal Election Commission records.
That owner is named Powell Jobs and she owns about 70% stake of The Atlantic. The person who wrote the article about Trump and allegedl comments disparaging the fallen military is Jeffrey Goldberg, who is an editor-in-chief. It’s reported that the two have communicated multiple times. (Daily Caller)
On the contrary, multiple social media users have posted positive videos of President Trump interacting with either the military or people who’ve lost someone.
Videos like this can be seen circulating the Internet, which show Trump’s interactions.
President Donald Trump talks with family who lost loved one in military via Trending Views