Five years ago today, Donald Trump told a convention of American Veterans, a volunteer-led veterans service organization, that he considered awarding himself the Medal of Honor, but was stopped after staffers advised against it. Donald Trump has never served in the military and was granted multiple draft deferments.
“Donald Trump simply doesn’t understand the idea of sacrifice and service to your country. He wants to receive the same adoration our brave service men and women receive, but he doesn’t want to sacrifice anything for his country to earn the same respect or recognition,” said American Bridge spokesperson Brandon Weathersby. “Nothing has changed for Trump in the last five years. He recently talked about the Medal of Freedom being a superior award because it didn’t require any physical sacrifice. It’s no different than Trump attacking a Gold Star family, disrespecting the legacy of the late American hero John McCain, or calling Americans who died in war suckers and losers. Trump’s attitudes towards military members should disqualify him from assuming the title of commander-in-chief ever again.”
Last week, Donald Trump disrespected veterans and servicemembers with his comments about how the Presidential Medal of Freedom is superior to the military Medal of Honor because the former involves no sacrifice.
Trump’s comments angered veterans and former Trump chief of staff, General John Kelly, but he still refused to apologize for his statements. Instead, Trump doubled down on disparaging servicemembers who receive the award while they are “horribly wounded or dead.”
Reacting to the comments, New York Times journalist, Maggie Haberman, pointed out Trump’s long history of disparaging the sacrifices of U.S. service members and their service to the country, “I don’t think he understands how offensive it is. I also don’t think he especially cares how offensive it is […] the point is service, and this is just not something that Trump’s mind ever goes to, and it’s pretty remarkable because he is somebody who went to military school when he was a child.”
Published: Aug 21, 2024 | Last Modified: Sep 2, 2024