Trump Gets the Last Laugh on the National Hero He Belittled
On This Day In 2018
For many Americans, their introduction to the type of person Donald Trump is came in 2015 when he mocked Sen. John McCain. As a naval aviator, McCain had been captured in Vietnam, and had then been tortured for years. And he was given the opportunity to be set free, but refused to do so and leave his men behind. McCain's picture ought to be featured in dictionaries under the word "selfless."
But, that wasn't Presidential Candidate Donald Trump's assessment: “He’s not a war hero,” argued Trump. “He was (considered) a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured, ok? I hate to tell you.”
For many Americans, it was no longer worth considering Donald Trump to be a serious public thinker once he'd confessed to having his demented view of humanity.
Remember, this came from a guy who compared the dangers of dating beautiful women to the dangers of fighting in Vietnam. Trump, of course, had avoided the war entirely by claiming bone spurs...which were later revealed to be non-existent.
Back then, Politico assessed Trump's stupidity re McCain: “Donald Trump might finally have crossed the line.” If only.
As often happens, Trump later blew the chance to turn the other cheek: When Senator McCain died in 2018, government buildings across the nation lowered their flags to half-mast, as is customary to honor the passing of a sitting member of Congress. But Trump’s White House refused to lower their flag, and Trump himself resisted calls to put out a statement of respect for the former Republican presidential nominee.
OTDI 2018 Trump finally bowed to public pressure and lowered his flag. But then he still couldn’t help himself. So he publicly whined that he didn’t get thanked for allowing a state funeral. And he continued, as the BBC put it, to “feud with a dead man.”
Postscript: It turns out Trump’s withering criticism of McCain had actually been uttered years earlier by…comedian Chris Rock. But, of course, Rock meant it as a joke. It occurred only to the sick brain of Donald Trump that Rock’s joke was a reasonable argument to make seriously.
Get Weirder; Dive Deeper
Politico has the original story
NPR has more details on Trump vs McCain
The BBC’s told the tale too
Pic: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Comms Specialist 2nd Class Nathan Burke/Released
I hadn’t remembered him not lowering the flag.