Netizens started to share stories of their fathers who were U.S. service members after The Atlantic reported President Donald Trump called Americans who died in war “losers” and “suckers.” The president canceled his trip to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018 because of bad weather, but The Atlantic reported it was because it wasn’t important enough to Trump.
The term “My Dad” because a top-trending Twitter topic on September 4 as people remembered their parents. The trend had more than 211,000 participants by the late afternoon. “We Respect Vets” also became a top-trending topic, garnering the No. 1 spot with more than 43,000 mentions.
My grandfather landed at Normandy. He was a patriot & a hero. He was incredibly proud of his service. He was the son of a Chilian immigrant & loved this country. He would be devastated to know his granddaughter is having to fight Nazis on US soil. #WeRespectVets #LincolnVoter
Meghan McCain Remembers Her Father, The Late Senator John McCain
One of the people who talked about her father was View co-host Meghan McCain. “I just got through two years without my Dad a few days ago. The loss is still incredibly painful and raw,” she tweeted on September 3 after The Atlantic article was published. “No one is more acutely aware of how vile and disgusting Trump has been to my family, it is still hard to understand – America knows who this man is…”
“This never stops being incredibly painful, triggering, and it rips off new layers of grief that wreak havoc on my life,” she continued. “I wouldn’t wish any of it on my worst enemy. I truly pray for peace for my family, our grief, and for this country.”
As noted by Forbes, Trump mocked late Sen. John McCain during his presidential campaign at the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, in 2015. He said he likes people who “weren’t captured” and aren’t “losers.” The former Arizona senator was captured during the Vietnam war and tortured by North Vietnamese forces. Because of the injuries he sustained, he wasn’t able to lift his arms above his head.
Trump Denies The Atlantic’s Report
I was never a big fan of John McCain, disagreed with him on many things including ridiculous endless wars and the lack of success he had in dealing with the VA and our great Vets, but the lowering of our Nations American Flags, and the first class funeral he was given by our….
Trump denied the accusations, slamming the story as “fake news” and claimed The Atlantic was about to go out of business.
“It’s a fake story written by a magazine that was probably not going to be around much longer,” Trump said, according to Politico. “But it was a totally fake story, and that was confirmed by many people who were actually there. It was a terrible thing that somebody could say the kind of things, and especially to me, because I’ve done more for the military than almost anybody else.”
He also denied calling Sen. McCain a loser. “I never called John a loser and swear on whatever, or whoever, I was asked to swear on, that I never called our great fallen soldiers anything other than HEROES,” he tweeted. “This is more made up Fake News given by disgusting & jealous failures in a disgraceful attempt to influence the 2020 Election!”
During an appearance on CNBC, Vice President Mike Pence also refuted The Atlantic story. “I wasn’t in Paris but it never happened,” he said. “I talked to the president that day. I know how disappointed President Trump was that there was a bad weather call that did not permit him to fly to Belleau Wood to honor our fallen.”
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