First, Trump intimated that Obama had not called Gold Star families. Then, he made sure to ask a reporter to “ask Gen. John Kelly if Obama ever called him.” Of course, then President Obama did not call him, he shouldn’t have, and he apparently went above the call of duty with what he did do.
Though Michelle Obama sat with him at this dinner:
Gen. Kelly and his wife sat at Michelle Obama's table during 2011 White House breakfast for Gold Star Families, @PeterAlexander reports
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) October 17, 2017
Which, actually, was above and beyond the call of duty. Obama didn’t have to contact him at all. Gen. Kelly’s son, 2nd Lt. Robert Kelly, was married. That condolence call would have gone to his wife, not his parents.
2nd Lt. Robert Kelly was married. Unless protocol has changed, the call would’ve gone to his wife. https://t.co/8HUCnOFd36
— shauna (@goldengateblond) October 17, 2017
According to Newsweek, Trump said, “I think I’ve called every family of someone who’s died,” during an interview from the White House, with Trump’s favorite Fox News, “As far as other representatives, I don’t know. You could ask General Kelly, did he get a call from Obama?”
Ok, but why did Trump start making these comments in the first place? From the White House’s Rose Garden on Monday, Trump was asked if he had called the families of troops killed in Niger almost two weeks before, on October 4. Trump stated he “planned to,” but wanted some time to pass and had already written letters. Then, he said this:
“So the traditional way—if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls,” Trump said. “A lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I am able to do it.”
The letters, he said, would be going out “today or tomorrow.” So, written, but not sent. Sure, that check is in the mail, right?
The most disgusting part? Gen. John Kelly eschews publicity about his son, and Trump just not only used him as a human shield he desecrated the memory of Lt. Kelly by politicizing his death as an attack on his predecessor. Sick.
Gen. Kelly, the year after his son died, told someone introducing him before a speech: “Please don’t mention my son" https://t.co/6zJ37aqdF8 pic.twitter.com/gZryKeVG67
— Mark Berman (@markberman) October 17, 2017
Featured image via Marines.mil
