“This man has absolutely no soul, empathy, or understanding of human emotions,” wrote Fred Wellman, an Army combat veteran, adding that “you don’t ‘celebrate’ the anniversary” of your child’s death.
Trump’s comments were made in a speech to the Economic Club of New York, in which he reflected on his recent visit to the national cemetery to mark the third anniversary of a deadly 2021 attack on service members amid evacuations at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport.
“By the way, we lost 13 incredible soldiers. I got to know the families very well, spent a lot of time with them four days ago in Arlington cemetery,” Trump said.
“Three years ago. They were celebrating three years honoring their children.”
The vast majority of the service members killed in the attack were Marines, not “soldiers,” as Trump called them.
VoteVets, a progressive political committee that recently criticized the former president over his Arlington visit, similarly declared that “no one celebrates the date” when their loved one was killed and added that a former commander in chief “ought to know” Marines aren’t called soldiers.
