Donald Trump uses US national holiday to lash out at ‘lunatic thugs’

Donald Trump has taken advantage of one of America’s most sacred national holidays to vent his fury at his opponents.

Former US president and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump commemorated America’s national holiday in honour of men and women who serve, Memorial Day, by comparing his personal battles to the more than one million US soldiers that have died on the battlefield.

Mr Trump, 76, took to his Truth Social platform to deliver the all-caps post on Monday morning local time, which lashed out at “fascist ‘pigs’” and “lunatic thugs”.

“HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL,” it began, using a phrase that many Americans think is inappropriate to mark a day of national remembrance of those who have fallen in the line of duty.

The bizarre post continued with a 63-word sentence that alluded to his failed attempts to overturn his 2020 US election defeat.

Former US president Donald Trump posted a bizarre post on Truth Social for America’s Memorial Day, which honours those who served. Picture: Getty Images

According to the New York Post, Trump typed the following in all caps:

“BUT ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO GAVE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE FOR THE COUNTRY THEY LOVE, AND TO THOSE IN LINE OF A VERY DIFFERENT, BUT EQUALLY DANGEROUS FIRE, STOPPING THE THREATS OF THE TERRORISTS, MISFITS AND LUNATIC THUGS WHO ARE WORKING FEVERISHLY FROM WITHIN TO OVERTURN AND DESTROY OUR ONCE GREAT COUNTRY, WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN IN GREATER PERIL THAN IT IS RIGHT NOW.

“WE MUST STOP THE COMMUNISTS, MARXISTS AND FASCIST “PIGS” AT EVERY TURN AND, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Mr Trump has previously used national holidays as a pretext to air his political grievances.

On Mother’s Day, he posted a scathing message that bashed the mothers of his political opponents and failed to thank his wife Melania, who is the mother of his son Barron.

His “Happy Easter” missive featured another all-caps rant that targeted “weak and pathetic RINOs [Republicans In Name Only]” and “radical left Democrats, socialists marxists, & communists.”

Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is Donald Trump’s main policial opponent. Picture: AFP

The latest unhinged rant couldn’t have been more different than the calculated speech made by his political opponent, fellow Republican Ron DeSantis, who announced his presidential campaign on May 24.

Mr DeSantis, 44, a Conservative and Trump rival, used the national holiday to tease his political platform as well as to remind Americans that, unlike Donald Trump, he served in the US Navy - and that service in the armed forces is “special”.

A Republican presidential hopeful and current governor of Florida, Mr DeSantis said the US needed to “rejuvenate” morale in its armed forces in a Memorial Day interview.

He told Fox News that there would be “very big changes in the services” on “day one” if he were elected president of the US.

“I think the military that I see is different from the military I served in,” the Navy veteran said.

“I see a lot of emphasis now on political ideologies, things like gender pronouns. I see a lot about things like DEI [Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs], and I think that that’s caused recruiting to, to plummet. I think it’s driven off a lot of warriors and I think morale is low.

“So all those issues are important and we’ll be rolling out a really strong program to counter China because I think it is our number one threat,” Mr DeSantis said.

“I remember being in Iraq, and we were in Fallujah and it was not going well. And yet people were still willing to sign up knowing they get sent to Iraq because they believe that this was something special and I think we’ve lost that a little bit.”