Trump has been caught disrespecting a grieving Army widow and lying about it. Now he's lashing out at everyone and making himself look even worse.
After Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) exposed Donald Trump's cruel behavior toward the family of slain Sgt. La David T. Johnson, he crossed his arms and petulantly taunted her while defending his lies.
Trump has decided to drag the grieving Johnson family through the mud, before his body is even buried, to prop up his failing presidency. It is part of a distinct pattern of anti-military behavior from Trump, who presides over the armed forces even after most Americans said he shouldn't.
The episode comes after Trump refused for weeks to even mention the four soldiers who were killed in an ISIS ambush in Niger. He has yet to explain the circumstances of their deaths as questions continue to be raised about his fitness to command them.
On Tuesday, Wilson revealed that in his call to Myeshia Johnson, Trump belittled her husband's death and said he "knew what he was getting into when he signed up." Wilson's account was confirmed by Cowanda Jones-Johnson, the sergeant's mother.
"Didn't say what that congresswoman said, didn't say it all," Trump stubbornly insisted, adding, "I'd like her to make the statement again."
Wilson immediately responded to Trump's tantrum, writing, " I still stand by my account of the call." She took note of Johnson's name and reprimanded Trump for referring to her as "the woman" and "the wife."
REPORTER: Mr. President, what did you say to Sgt. Johnson's widow on the phone yesterday?
TRUMP: I didn't say what that congresswoman said. I didn't say it at all. She knows it. And she now is not saying it. I did not say what she said. And I'd like her to make the statement again because I did not say what she said. I had a very nice conversation with the woman, with the wife, who sounded like a lovely woman. Did not say what the congresswoman said. And most people aren't too surprised to hear that.
REPORTER: What is the proof, Mr. President?
TRUMP: Let her make her statement again and then you'll find out.
REPORTER: She's saying that you said this.
TRUMP: OK, let her make her statement again and then you'll find out.
Trump refused to specify what he did say during the call, and he would not back up his Twitter boast that he could disprove the content of the call, which joins a long list of nonsense claims that Trump has teased without offering evidence.
These include so-called proof that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States (a lie), that Obama tapped his phone (also a lie), and secret recordings of his conversations with James Comey (this, also, was a lie).
History shows that when his lips are moving, Donald Trump is usually lying.
He enjoys denigrating the military and its members, perversely using his bully pulpit to run their families down while luxuriating on the taxpayer's dime. This time is no different. He just got nailed while committing his latest crime against decency.
