Trumpwill be the ‘loser’ if military support goes lower

In response to credible reports that President Donald Trump has derided fallen U.S. soldiers as “losers” and “suckers,” the least I could do in protest was to change my Twitter photo.

And so I did. Gone is my currently aging face, replaced by the much younger me, dressed up in my Class A U.S. Army uniform for graduation from basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, in early 1970.

I am following the recommendation of a much younger Army vet, David Weissman, a Palm Bay, Fla., resident who served two tours in Afghanistan as an assistant chaplain.

I didn’t even get that close to combat during my two years in service, but I am grateful to those who did.

Four years ago, as he recently wrote in The Forward, he was “your average, conservative, pro-Israel Jewish American” who “was also a fullfledged, unapologetic, redhat wearing Trumper.”

Back then, Weissman appreciated President Trump’s support of the military in word and policy. Today? Not so much.

“I recommend all veterans to use their Military pics as a profile pic to let Trump know how many people he has offended by calling fallen soldiers losers and suckers. #NewProfilePic,” he tweeted on Sept. 3.

I’m with you, bro.

I know Trump angrily denies the account in

The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg, the magazine’s award-winning editor-in-chief, which cites unnamed sources. The story says Trump called U.S. soldiers injured or killed in war “losers,” questioned the country’s reverence for them and expressed confusion over why anyone would choose to serve.

Yet, parts of the story were quickly backed up by other reporters at The Washington Post, The Associated Press and The New York Times, which also cited anonymous sources.

But none appear to have torqued the president’s jaws like the confirmation that came from national security reporter Jennifer Griffin at his favorite channel, Fox News.

For example, she tweeted, citing an unnamed former senior Trump administration official, “When the President spoke about the Vietnam War, he said, ‘It was a stupid war. Anyone who went was a sucker.’”

I don’t need public confirmation of Goldberg’s quotes to believe them. I’ve seen enough of what Trump has said in public to give them credibility.

I saw enough back when Trump as a candidate in 2015 belittled the heroic sacrifices of political rival John McCain of Arizona, who spent five and a half years in a North Vietnamese prison. “He’s not a war hero,” said Trump. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

Those remarks, met with scattered boos from the audience, offered just a taste of what was to come from a candidate who thought such sentiments made him look “tough,” not just stupid.

But if Trump sounds a bit more hypersensitive lately, it may have something to do with polls that show slippage in his support among military personnel.

The Military Times Polls, surveying activeduty troops in partnership with the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, report a steady drop in support by activeduty troops. Among those surveyed, 41% said they would vote for Joe Biden. Only 37% said they plan to vote to reelect Trump

There’s still time for Trump to close the gap with this portion of his base, though, short of a personality transplant, I don’t expect it to be easy.