- Drew Berquist - https://www.drewberquist.com -

The Atlantic’s latest anti-Trump smear is profoundly inconsistent with reality

The mainstream media’s bogus claim that President Trump called fallen American soldiers “losers” in 2018 is simply factually not true. I should know — I was there.

Following his recent campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, President Trump strongly dismissed [1] the liberal media’s sleazy sensationalism, stating that he had never uttered such words about America’s bravest heroes. “I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes,” he declared, adding that “there is nobody that respects them more.”

The Atlantic, a left-leaning outlet with an obvious ideological axe to grind, provoked the controversy by publishing a report [2] based on the accounts of four unnamed individuals who supposedly have “firsthand knowledge” of discussions during the president’s visit to Paris. Well, I was actually present in Paris with President Trump and can tell you unequivocally that it’s simply false.

On the morning of November 10, I drove in the pouring rain along with General John Kelly to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery. The next day, November 11, on the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice, I had the honor and privilege of accompanying the president to the Suresnes American Cemetery where he stood, like the rest of us, in the rain, honoring and praising the sacrifices so many made so long ago. I have been in the president’s presence on many occasions and have never heard him express anything but admiration, gratitude and respect for our veterans, current servicemen and women and their families.  Along with myself, a litany of other current and former administration officials who were also personally present — and willing to identify themselves — flatly contradicted the anonymous detractors.

“I was actually there and one of the people part of the discussion — this never happened,” insisted former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

“I was with POTUS in France, with Sarah, and have been at his side throughout it all,” confirmed Assistant to the President Dan Scavino, calling The Atlantic’s claims “complete lies by ‘anonymous sources.’”

Even former Ambassador John Bolton, who was on the trip and who has had his differences with the president, has acknowledged that bad weather and complicated logistics were responsible for the president not traveling to the Belleau Wood location.

But President Trump and members of his administration shouldn’t have to spend their time refuting preposterous lies based on unnamed sources. After all, his record of support for service members and veterans speaks for itself.

Over the past four years, this commander-in-chief has done more to honor the sacrifices of America’s brave warriors than any of his recent predecessors.

On the first Memorial Day of his administration, Donald Trump delivered a beautiful address celebrating the “special” American heroes who gave their lives fighting our country’s foes.

“Thank you for joining us as we honor the brave warriors who gave their lives for ours, spending their last moments on this Earth in defense of this country and of its people,” Trump said [3] in 2017. “Words cannot measure the depth of their devotion, the purity of their love, or the totality of their courage. We only hope that every day we can prove worthy not only of their sacrifice and service but of the sacrifice made by the families and loved ones they left behind.”

More importantly, President Trump has backed his words with concrete actions. During the bilateral talks with North Korea, the president convinced communist dictator Kim Jong-Un to return the remains of dozens of American soldiers who were killed in the fighting on the Korean Peninsula over half a century earlier — a move that the Hermit Kingdom’s rulers have steadfastly refused to consider in the past.

Notably, Donald Trump has also employed his influence and authority at home to ensure that U.S. veterans and American warriors who were wounded in action are no longer forgotten by our government.

In an impressively short period of time, the Trump administration managed to completely overhaul [4] the scandal-plagued Veterans Administration, which was unconscionably allowing patients to die while waiting for routine medical care. Almost immediately after taking office, the president began working to improve veterans’ access to quality and affordable health care, implement groundbreaking mental health and telehealth initiatives, ensure that veterans have access to higher education and student loan benefits, and much more.

President Trump has even gone out of his way to honor non-human military personnel such as “Conan,” a Belgian Malinois injured during the special operations raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria.

“We have declassified a picture of the wonderful dog (name not declassified) that did such a GREAT JOB in capturing and killing the Leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi!” the president tweeted [5] last year, later inviting the brave K-9 and its handler to the White House as a token of the entire nation’s appreciation and esteem.

The liberal media’s unfounded attack against President Trump reeks of desperation — the sort we often see from partisans facing the prospect of defeat in big elections. Anyone who has met the commander-in-chief, or even just casually observed his actions while in office, should know that there are few people in America who respect our soldiers and veterans more than Donald Trump.

This piece was written by David Urban on September 14, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette [6] and is used by permission.

Read more at LifeZette:
Cher comes unglued: ‘Trump is a mass murderer…the punishment is death’ [7]
‘The View’ host Sunny Hostin says blacks are ‘props’ for Republicans: Gets shut down by black civil rights attorney Leo Terrell [8]
Black sportswriter blasts ‘white liberals’ as ‘bigots’ and ‘racists’: Calls liberalism ‘the new KKK hood’ [9]