Trump hits back at soldier’s widow
UNITED STATES: President Donald Trump has hit back at the pregnant widow of an American soldier killed in Niger, denying that he made her cry during a condolence call by forgetting her dead husband’s name.
The latest round of Trump’s extraordinary battle for public opinion with the widow of Sergeant La David Johnson began with her first interview since details of the telephone conversation emerged last week.
‘‘The president said that he [Johnson] knew what he signed up for but it hurts anyway,’’ Myeshia Johnson said. ’’It made me cry because I was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said it.
‘‘He couldn’t remember my husband’s name. The only way he could remember my husband’s name was he told me he had my husband’s report in front of him and that’s when he actually said ‘La David’.’’
Myeshia Johnson’s words provoked an immediate response from Trump, who denied her claims with a Twitter message.
‘‘I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt La David Johnson,’’ he wrote, ‘‘and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!’’
It marks the latest chapter in an ugly political row, raising fresh criticism of Trump’s fitness to be commander-in-chief and questions about how four men, including Johnson, died during what should have been a routine operation near the border with Mali.
He died on October 4 in Niger, where he was stationed as part of a mission to train and assist local troops in fighting armed militias linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State. They died in an ambush despite believing there was little risk of attack.
The attack was brought into the spotlight last week when Frederica Wilson, a member of Congress, released details of the phone call and said the president had been insensitive.
Trump dismissed her as ‘‘wacky’’ and of fabricating her accusations. Myeshia Johnson said Wilson was virtually a part of the family and had not lied about the conversation.
‘‘Whatever Ms Wilson said was not fabricated,’’ she said. ‘‘What she said was 100 per cent correct.’’ Asked if she had anything to say to Trump now, she added: ‘‘No, I don’t have nothing to say to him.’’
She also spoke of her sadness at not being allowed to see her husband’s body before he was buried on Saturday. ‘‘I need to see him so I will know that is my husband,’’ she said. ‘‘They won’t show me a finger, a hand.
‘‘I know my husband’s body from head to toe. And they won’t let me see anything. I don’t know what’s in that box. It could be empty for all I know. I haven’t seen him since he came home.’’