On Second Thought, Maybe Donald Trump Shouldn't Call The Families Of The Fallen
Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson (pic via GoFundMe )
Oh for all the gods' sakes! Is this Donald Trump's new worst week ever as president? Maybe!
Trump's latest self-inflicted face-stabbing started Monday, when, after 12 days of silence about the four soldiers we lost in Niger (and why we lost them in the first place), he lied and said Obama and the other previous presidents (Obama!) didn't call the families of troops killed in action as tremendously as Trump calls those families. Then he doubled down on his stupid, easily disproven lie, because he is an asshole like that. Tuesday afternoon, in a move that should have made things better, but didn't because Donald Trump fucks up everything he touches with his tiny hand-like appendages, Trump decided to call the wife of one of those four soldiers.
It did not go well:
President Donald Trump told U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson's widow Tuesday that "he knew what he signed up for ... but when it happens, it hurts anyway," when he died serving in northwestern Africa, according to U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Florida.
"Yeah, he said that," Wilson said. "So insensitive. He should have not have said that. He shouldn't have said it."
What the fuck is wrong with him? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH HIM?
Trump reportedly spoke to the widow, Myeshia Johnson, who is now the single mother of a 6-year-old and a 2-year-old and pregnant with a third child, just before she received her husband's remains at Miami International Airport. Her representative in Congress, Democrat Frederica Wilson, knows all this because she was present, both for the call (it was on speaker phone in the car they were riding in) and for the ceremony.
Rep. Wilson appeared on "Morning Joe" on Wednesday, and oh BOY, Wonkers, do we tell you to watch the video sometimes? WE MEAN IT THIS TIME:
Rep. Wilson said after they got off the phone, Myeshia Johnson said through her tears the worst part was that "he didn't even remember his name." As for the first part, Wilson said Trump "was almost like joking" when he said Sgt. Johnson knew what he signed up for, though he guesses the part about him dying sucks.
The Washington Post spoke to Sgt. Johnson's mother Cowanda Jones-Johnson, who was also in the car and heard the call, and she said, "President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband." She also said nothing about Congresswoman Wilson's account was wrong.
Before we go through the roof with rage, you should know that Trump says this family's feelings about the phone call are FAKE NEWS:
Uh huh OK sure. LORDY I HOPE THERE ARE TAPES.
As usual, we will choose to believe the people who are not known pathological liars until the facts on the ground say we should do otherwise.
Is it technically true what Donald Trump said? Only in the sense that yes, the brave men and women who serve in the military know going in that it's possible they might die for this country, but their families don't want to hear that when they're burying their loved ones BECAUSE IT'S FUCKING RUDE AND CRUEL.
Let us see if we can draw you an analogy.
Many people of various religions believe "God has a plan" for our lives. But literally NOBODY except the most brainwashed zealots on earth EVER, upon the tragic loss of a loved one, wants to hear that their loved one's death was "part of God's plan." The only proper response to this statement is 1) "Fuck you," 2) "Bless your heart," or 3) smile and walk away while thinking "fuck you" and "bless your heart" in your brain.
Thing is, even people who are bad at the situation we just described (yes, even those assholes) do not walk up to grieving families of people killed in war and say, "Oh well, BING BONG, he knew this might happen! Want to hear about the F-35 airplane? It goes like AIR-PANE! AIR-PANE! And then it disappears because it is invisible!"
Fuck Donald Trump so very much. If he's incapable of doing serious presidential things like this (and he is, and he's never going to learn, because he's a stupid failure) maybe he should outsource them to an actual presidential person, like Hillary Clinton.
Also? fuck "Fox & Friends" and all the other whiny-ass media whiny-asses whining about how Congresswoman Wilson is somehow "politicizing" this by sharing the thing she witnessed with her own eyes and ears. Maybe this wouldn't be in the headlines if Donald Trump hadn't tried to feebly score points against his predecessor by saying he was the best at calling bereaved families, like he's so good at it they're going to get sick of him calling.
(Well, we guess at least that last part is true.)
If you'd like to channel your rage, a GoFundMe has been set up to serve as a college fund for the Johnsons' kids. Maybe some good can come out of this after all.
Follow Evan Hurst on Twitter RIGHT HERE.
[ ABC Local 10 / Washington Post / GoFundMe ]
No, there is no tax break for being a Gold Star Family member. You get a lapel button. That's it.
It isn't done playing out yet. Mr. Johnson's mother confirmed Rep. Wilson's account. Trump can now attack a Gold Star Mother (just as he did with Khzir and Ghazala Khan).