Former President Donald Trump could not escape his past — and his very recent — comments about veterans and service members during the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Speaker after speaker referenced how Trump had reportedly called Americans who died in war “losers” and “suckers” in 2020, while others pointed to his claim this month that the nation’s highest civilian honor was “much better” than its military equivalent.
“Donald Trump does not understand the world, and he does not understand the service and sacrifice of our military,” former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday. “Our fallen veterans are not suckers, they are not losers — they are our heroes.”
“Every president since World War II has shared the belief that America must protect democracy in the world,” he went on. “Every president has honored our veterans and their sacrifices. Every president but one.”
Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) recounted how Vice President Kamala Harris had visited West Point last year for the military academy’s graduation, proceeding to shake hands with every one of the 4,400 cadets.
Trump, Ryan added, did not meet the merits required to be commander in chief.
“At West Point you learn the honor code: ‘A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do,’” he said in Chicago. “Well, there’s a candidate who has violated every word in that code. A serial liar, cheater, thief, who looked soldiers in the eye, then turned around and called fallen heroes ‘suckers and losers,’ who insulted Medal of Honor recipients just last week.”
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Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), a former Marine, said Americans have a duty to take care of “our patriots who serve our nation” before asking lawmakers who’ve served to join him onstage. The group included Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who spoke earlier in the week. She lost both legs when the Black Hawk helicopter she was in was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq in 2004.
“Vice President Harris has stood up for us and our families, always,” Gallego said. “Tim Walz served for 24 years.”
Gallego went on to criticize Trump’s disdain for the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Trump has long been dogged by his remark that he liked people who “weren’t captured.”
“John McCain was an American hero, show some respect,” Gallego said Thursday night.
