Anonymous White House Official ‘Confirms’ That Obama Never Called Kelly
White House officials seem like they are prepared to defend President Trump‘s latest comments about how Barack Obama supposedly never called grieving families who lost loved ones serving in the military.
Trump gave an interview to Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade today, and he doubled down on his false claim after previously trying to walk it back yesterday. The president invoked chief of staff John Kelly, who’s son, Robert, died in Afghanistan, and he wondered if Obama ever offered his sympathies to the retired general for his loss.
After Trump’s interview, the White House released this statement to the press, saying the former president never called Kelly:
JUST IN: President Obama did not call Gen. John Kelly when his son was killed in Afghanistan in 2010, White House official tells NBC News
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) October 17, 2017
NBC has noted in their subsequent reporting, however, that Kelly took part in events where the Obamas honored military families:
Gen. Kelly and his wife sat at Michelle Obama’s table during 2011 White House breakfast for Gold Star Families, @PeterAlexander reports
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) October 17, 2017
Kelly also attended 2012 White House dinner honoring “those who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn” hosted by Obamas
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) October 17, 2017
Beyond the question of whether Obama offered sufficient condolences to Kelly for his loss, there are a few online observers who are not impressed with the White House’s statement. Some are wondering why the White House insists on perpetuating Trump’s latest controversy, and others want to know if Kelly is happy about the idea that his dead son is being used to score political points:
Nothing like using the death of your COS’s son to defend yourself against criticism.
— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) October 17, 2017
I do wonder if General Kelly wants to be the front guy for Trump’s suggestion Obama didn’t care about dead soldiers https://t.co/GbMpcoIsOH
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 17, 2017
Can you imagine working for this guy? Spending more time finding justifications for inanity than you know… advancing an agenda? https://t.co/tGW2l0gZU2
— Ben (@BenHowe) October 17, 2017
I bet Gen. Kelly is really excited his boss decided to politicize the death of his son.
— Anthony De Rosa ? (@Anthony) October 17, 2017
Kelly explicitly asked people not to mention his son’s death when introducing him https://t.co/7kqXNIIXtd
— Indira Lakshmanan (@Indira_L) October 17, 2017
Why let the WH get away w/ doing this on background? If they want to attack Obama like this, shouldn’t someone have to put their name on it? https://t.co/ihyNTISwWF
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) October 17, 2017
Yup. And gotta imagine Kelly won’t be thrilled with the White House politicizing the death of his son –which he rarely talks about publicly https://t.co/kGa0XhPjWW
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) October 17, 2017
The White House & others are now politicizing Gen. Kelly’s son’s death because the president said something he ended up walking back later. https://t.co/xdMsruFSJJ
— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) October 17, 2017
Since this is apparently multi-day news, let’s recall that—like Khzir Kahn—Kelly deserves sensitivity & respect in this aspect of his life. https://t.co/cYyuO8rvtu
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) October 17, 2017
Here’s what three former Obama officials had to say about this:
This is so sad. Gen. Kelly deserves our condolences and gratitude and not to have to endure a political fight. https://t.co/cOZshRoELB
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) October 17, 2017
NK. Iran. Kirkuk. Rakhine. Health care. DACA limbo. And WH officials are putting out bground comments to smear predecessor / obfuscate a lie https://t.co/mW3udHCWMU
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) October 17, 2017
Kelly, a man of honor & decency, should stop this inane cruelty. He saw up-close just how—& how much—Obama cared for the fallen’s families. https://t.co/5NPTKHsd1Z
— Ned Price (@nedprice) October 17, 2017
Some people, however, are more upset with NBC for not clarifying who spoke to them about Kelly:
Reminder: NBC News rejected Ronan Farrow’s reporting because women telling the truth ON CAMERA weren’t enough. https://t.co/mKcEE4Z1rM
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) October 17, 2017
NBC, since you are asking questions, why not ask John Kelly and every GOP Senator if they agree w/Corker that Trump is unfit as POTUS? https://t.co/DRBCWLfMsS
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) October 17, 2017
seems like an instance in which the media should tell us who the “white house official” is. if someone wants to leak it to me im all ears https://t.co/MwhJyQFORm
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) October 17, 2017
This is incredibly irresponsible form of reporting. https://t.co/PsyJPxe1eU
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) October 17, 2017
maybe twitter has broken my brain but this seems like an insane thing to let the WH get away with on background pic.twitter.com/hddDgyrcjT
— Steven Perlberg (@perlberg) October 17, 2017
[Image via screengrab]
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