GOLD STAR FAMILY DISPUTES TRUMP’S VERSION OF FACTS
President Donald Trump definitely isn’t the Comforter-in- Chief. He proved that with his bumbling remarks after the Charlottesville violence in which he equated white nationalists chanting racist slogans with protesters standing against the racial oppression.
So I’m not surprised that Trump couldn’t pull off a condolence phone call to the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, one of four Green Berets killed in Niger on Oct. 4.
Since then there have been few details about what actually happened in Niger, while the White House has been engaged in a titfortat with U. S. Rep. Frederica Wilson ( D- Fla.) over what Trump said and how he said it.
On Monday, Myeshia Johnson, the soldier’s widow, spoke out in an exclusive interview with “Good Morning America.” It was heartbreaking. “I want to know why it took them 48 hours to find my husband and why I couldn’t see my husband,” Johnson said.
“Every time I asked to see my husband, they wouldn’t let me. They wouldn’t show me a finger or a hand. I know my husband’s body from head to toe. I don’t knowwhat’s in that box. It could be empty for all I know,” she said.
Johnson said she was in a limo, along with relatives, en route to Dover Air Force Base to receive her husband’s remains when she got the president’s call.
“I asked them to put the phone on speaker so my aunt and uncle could hear. The president said ‘ he knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyway,’ ” Johnson told George Stephanopoulos.
“It made me cry. I was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said it,” Johnson said.
She also said the president couldn’t remember her husband’s name.
“The only way he remembered my husband’s name is because, he told me, he had my husband’s report in front of him. That’s when he actually said La David,” the widow said.
“I heard him stumblin’ on trying to remember my husband’s name, and that’s what hurt me the most. Because if my husband is out here fighting for our country and he risked his life for our country, why can’t you remember his name?” she asked.
The congresswoman, who has been under a vicious attack by Trump supporters for saying the president’s call was insensitive, was accompanying Johnson because the fallen soldier was an alumnus of a mentoring program Wilson started for youths pursuing military careers.
“The purpose of such a call is to offer condolences and honor the immeasurable sacrifice that he and his family have made in service to this country. President Trump’s remarks had the opposite effect,” Wilson told the Washington Post.
She said Trump kept calling Sgt. Johnson “your guy.”
In a Monday morning tweet, Trump contradicted Johnson’s widow. “I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation,” he said.
I can’t think of any reason Trump would want to upset a Gold Star family by being rude. I think Trump can’t do any better.
But instead of apologizing for the unintentional offense, the White House dug in.
The White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly derided Wilson as an “empty barrel.” He also accused her of taking unwarranted credit for getting funding for an FBI building in Florida in 2015.
A video posted by the SunSentinel disputed Kelly’s characterization. On Sunday, the women of the Congressional Black Caucus issued a statement demanding that Kelly apologize.
No matter how you feel about the Trump presidency, there’s only one way to feel about the death of a 25- year- old soldier, husband, father of two children with one on the way. Sorrowful. That Trump couldn’t communicate the nation’s empathy in this tragic situation is one of his biggest shortcomings.
“I HEARD HIM STUMBLIN’ ON TRYING TO REMEMBER MY HUSBAND’S NAME, AND THAT’S WHAT HURT ME THE MOST. BECAUSE IF MY HUSBAND IS OUT HERE FIGHTING FOR OUR COUNTRY AND HE RISKED HIS LIFE FOR OUR COUNTRY, WHY CAN’T YOU REMEMBER HIS NAME?” MYESHIA JOHNSON, widow of Sgt. La David Johnson in an interview