Military voters sour on Donald Trump
Earlier this month, Donald Trump wasted taxpayer dollars just to fly to Fort Drum, New York for the sole purpose of signing the National Defense Authorization Act, which was named after then-dying Senator John McCain. While Trump did indeed sign the bill, he refused to even utter McCain’s name during his speech, which was filled with braggadocious yet untrue claims. Speaking in front of military personnel stationed at Fort Drum, Trump claimed that this bill provided the most money and biggest raise for the military “in modern history.”
Trump’s claim is only true if modern history began when his illegitimate administration started, because President Barack Obama signed a larger military bill in 2010. In fact, the last year in which the military did not receive a pay increase was 1983, under the presidency of Trump’s hero, Ronald Reagan. Trump stood in front of United States military members and lied to their faces, and then, on the very same day, he did something even worse than spew the false statements. After putting on a show in an effort to pretend he cared about those serving our country, it was reported on Monday that the Trump administration is looking to roll back financial protections that were put in place to protect military members from being targeted by predatory lenders.
A new article by the Rolling Stone discusses how Trump’s shameful response to McCain’s death, as well as his actions behind the scenes to harm military families, has resulted in a “souring on Trump” by the military community. Denise Rohan, the national commander of the American Legion, rebuked Trump’s inaction in ordering flags to be flown at half-staff, stating “On the behalf of the American Legion’s two million wartime veterans, I strongly urge you to make an appropriate presidential proclamation noting Senator McCain’s death and legacy of service to our nation, and that our nation’s flag be half-staffed through his interment.”
As a reminder, this is certainly not the first time Donald Trump has gone out of his way to pretend to be a hero to the military while, at the same time, going against the very promises he has made. As Palmer Report has documented, Trump has allowed the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to be run on the opinions and recommendations of a few friends with no qualifications other than being Mar-a-Lago club members. It is clear that when it comes to what Trump values most, even his professed love for our military is just for show when there is money to be made.
I’m a ceramic engineer living in Central New York, avid sports fan but find myself more interested in politics lately.