KELLY COUNTERS TRUMP
Retired general slams U.S. Rep. Wilson’s claim
An emotional White House chief of staff John Kelly slammed the Florida congresswoman who criticized President Trump for disrespectful comments she said he made during a condolence call to a Gold Star widow — saying he was “stunned” and “brokenhearted” to see the death of a U.S. service member being politicized.
“I was stunned when I came to work yesterday morning, and brokenhearted at what I saw a member of Congress doing,” Kelly — a retired three-star Marine general whose son was killed in Afghanistan — said of Democratic U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, who he called an “empty barrel” who “makes noise.”
“Absolutely stuns me,” Kelly said. “And I thought at least that was sacred.”
The Brighton native didn’t deny Wilson’s claim that Trump told Myeshia Johnson, the widow of fallen Army Sgt. La David Johnson, that her husband knew “this could happen when (he) signed up for it.”
But Kelly stressed Trump “expressed his condolences in the best way he could.”
“If you’re not in the family, if you’ve never worn the uniform, if you’ve never been in combat, you can’t even imagine how to make that call,” Kelly said. “I think he very bravely does make those calls.”
Kelly went on to say he was so upset by Wilson’s criticism of the call that he went to walk “among the finest men and women on earth” during a 90-minute visit to nearby Arlington National Cemetery, among the graves of service members, including some who died under his command.
A spokeswoman for Wilson, who was in the car with Johnson’s family when Trump called Tuesday as they drove to Miami’s airport to receive the body, said yesterday that Wilson stood by her earlier comments.
When asked by WSVNTV in Florida about Kelly’s rebuke, Wilson said, “Let me tell you what my mother told me when I was little. She said, ‘The dog can bark at the moon all night long, but it doesn’t become an issue until the moon barks back.’ ”
Trump, meanwhile, has publicly rebuffed Wilson’s claims that he was disrespectful during the call, which came after he boasted that he makes a point of calling fallen service members’ families and wondered aloud if President Obama called Kelly after his son was killed in combat.
Kelly confirmed yesterday that Obama didn’t call him but made it clear “that was not a criticism.”
“That’s not a negative thing,” he said. “I don’t believe all presidents call. I believe they all write.”
Late last night, Trump piled on, tweeting, “The Fake News is going crazy with wacky Congresswoman Wilson(D), who was SECRETLY on a very personal call, and gave a total lie on content!”
Kelly also said the Defense Department is investigating the details of the Oct. 4 ambush in Niger that killed Johnson and three other American soldiers. Islamic militants on motorcycles brought rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, killing the four in a remote corner of Niger where they had been meeting with community leaders.