Donald Trump, La David Johnson: Fiasco over fallen soldier hits new low
EVEN by Donald Trump’s standards, this is awkward. The president of the United States is suddenly embroiled in a spat with a fallen soldier’s wife.
DONALD Trump is embroiled in a deeply awkward controversy after implying the widow of an American soldier killed in action is lying about a phone call with him.
Mr Trump’s reaction to Myeshia Johnson’s claims has been described as a “new low”. Some experts have said it demonstrates his “lack of emotional intelligence”.
Sergeant La David Johnson and three other US soldiers were killed on the border of Niger and Mali on October 4.
Mr Trump called Ms Johnson last Tuesday as she, family members and friend and Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson drove to Miami International Airport to meet the body of her husband.
During an interview with Good Morning America today, Ms Johnson said the President’s phone call upset her and he struggled to remember her fallen husband’s name.
“It made me cry because I was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said it. He couldn’t remember my husband’s name,” she said.
“The only way he remembered my husband’s name was because he told me he had my husband’s report in front of him — that’s when he actually said La David.
“I heard him stumbling trying to remember my husband’s name. And that’s what hurt me the most. Because if my husband is out fighting for our country and he risked his life for our country, why can’t you remember his name? And that’s what made me upset and cry even more, because my husband was an awesome soldier.”
Ms Johnson also confirmed the president had told her Sgt Johnson “knew what he signed up for”. For days, Mr Trump had repeatedly insisted that didn’t happen.
Mr Trump added further fuel to the controversy when he responded to Ms Johnson’s interview in a tweet, directly contradicting her account.
I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2017
STORM OF CONTROVERSY
Sgt Johnson was killed along with Staff Sergeant Dustin Wright, Sergeant Bryan Black, and Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Johnson during an ambush carried out by militants believed to be linked to the Islamic State.
Mr Trump’s phone call became a political problem when Congresswoman Wilson, a Florida Democrat, publicly claimed his remarks had been insensitive. She is the one who originally accused Mr Trump of saying Sgt Johnson “knew what he signed up for”.
Mr Trump shot back, calling Ms Wilson “wacky”, a liar and saying she “fabricated” his comments. Ms Wilson’s account has since been supported by Sgt Johnson’s mother and, today, his widow.
‘LACK OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE’
Lowy Institute non-resident fellow Professor James Curran told news.com.au the phone call said a lot about the President’s conduct, and he should have apologised over his choice of words.
“President Trump’s decision to not only continue but escalate the disagreement over his condolence call with Myeshia Johnson shows with glaring yet awful clarity the almost complete lack of emotional intelligence in the man,” the University of Sydney history professor said.
“We know that Trump cannot handle the merest of personal slights against his conduct and character.”
Prof Curran said this could be an understandable trait when in the heat of political combat.
“But in dealing with the bereaved of the fallen it is simply inexcusable,” he said.
“Mr Trump cannot, it seems, grasp the fact that at times his office demands gravitas and in this particular case, genuine empathy for those who grieve the loss of their loved ones in foreign fields”.
‘NEW LOW’
CNN Editor-at-large Chris Cillizza was equally critical of the President, saying the call represented a “new low” for Mr Trump and was a “stunning” move, even for him.
“The President is now suggesting that the widow of a soldier killed in action is lying,” Mr Cillizza wrote. “There’s simply no other way to read this.”
He went on to say that even if Mr Trump meant no offence and it was all simply a misunderstanding, he should have at least called Mrs Johnson back and apologised for coming across as unsympathetic, as a sign of respect for someone who had lost a loved one while serving for the country.
“Politically speaking, this was a layup. Trump not only missed the layup, he threw the ball over the backboard and out of the gym. Then he went and found the ball in the hallway and deflated it.”
‘GROTESQUE FEUDING’
Vice writer Harry Cheadle called the saga “grotesque”, writing that it “speaks to a deeper level of dysfunction in Trump’s orbit” and raises questions about the resources his White House has committed to damage control.
“The problem is that when he says something untrue in public, it both causes a public uproar and forces federal officials under him to deal with the consequences,” Mr Cheadle wrote.
“In this case, the bureaucracy had to move quickly to contact gold-star families while the White House chief of staff had to aggressively go after a member of Congress.”
Chief of staff John Kelly publicly denounced Ms Wilson last week, as the White House scrambled to send letters to the families of America’s fallen soldiers. Mr Trump recently claimed to be better than other presidents when it came to contacting those families.
“Most of them didn’t make calls,” he said of his predecessors. He said it’s possible that President Barack Obama “did sometimes”, but “other presidents did not call.”
Mr Trump doubled down on his comments, and said reporters should ask his chief of staff, General John Kelly, if Mr Obama called him after his son, Robert Kelly, was killed by a landmine.
First Lieutenant Robert Kelly died in action while serving with the Marines in Afghanistan in 2010.
“You could ask General Kelly, did he get a call from Obama? I don’t know what Obama’s policy was,” Mr Trump said on Fox News Radio.
A White House official told NBC News President Obama did not call General Kelly. But General Kelly and his wife did attend a breakfast for Gold Star families at the White House in 2011 and sat at first lady Michelle Obama’s table, ABC News reported.
Families of fallen soldiers lashed out at Mr Trump, calling him a liar after saying they did receive calls from previous presidents.
HISTORY REPEATING
This isn’t be the first time Mr Trump has had a public spat with the family of a fallen soldier.
Khizr Khan, a Gold Star father and Muslim, was involved in a public fight with Mr Trump last year.
Mr Khan’s son, Army Captain Humayun Khan, died while serving in Iraq in 2004.
Mr Khan and his wife, Ghazala took the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last July, holding up a copy of the US Constitution and challenged Mr Trump to read it.
He implored Mr Trump to think of the sacrifices all Americans made for their country.
Mr Khan’s blistering denunciation of the GOP nominee during his convention address turned into a week-long public spat between the pair after Mr Trump targeted Mrs Khan for standing silently beside her husband.
She responded one week later by penning a powerful open letter, explaining she was too heartbroken to speak about her beloved son.
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