Vets, White House Push Back On Palin: Don’t Blame Obama For Your Son’s PTSD

Both the White House and a veterans’ organization are pushing back against Sarah Palin for her claim that Barack Obama is responsible for the post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by soldiers returning from war. To be more specific, the former VP candidate blamed the president for her son (an Iraq War veteran) getting arrested on charges of domestic violence assault and possession of a firearm while intoxicated.

“My son, like so many others, came back a bit different, they come back hardened,” Palin said Wednesday at a Donald Trump rally. “They come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airman and every other member of the military so sacrificially have given to this country.” The lack of respect, she said, “comes from our own President.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Thursday that it was to be expected that some rhetoric on the campaign trail would be taken lightly — “particularly from Governor Palin.” However, he cautioned, “domestic violence is not a joke. Gun violence is not a joke. Problems with addiction are not a joke.” He continued:

The sacrifices that many of our men and women in uniform make for our safety and security, are not a joke. And these are issues that this administration is quite focussed on. We take them all very seriously.

Veterans also took issue with Palin’s glib remarks. Paul Rieckhoff is the founder and CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), an organization that provides returning soldiers with educational, legal, health, and financial support.

“It’s not President Obama’s fault that Sarah Palin’s son has PTSD,” Rieckhoff told NBC News. “PTSD is a very serious problem, a complicated mental health injury and I would be extremely reluctant to blame any one person in particular.” Rieckhoff expressed his concern that Palin was minimizing PTSD, by turning it into a “chew toy in a political campaign.”