Vet Gives Trump His Purple Heart at Rally, Trump Says I Always Wanted One But ‘This Was Much Easier’
So, as Donald Trump continues his feud with the Gold Star family of a fallen soldier, he said today that he found a “much easier” way of getting the Purple Heart than by going into combat on behalf of America.
The award is a military decoration that the president dedicates to American soldiers who are killed or wounded during service. Trump is holding a rally today in Ashbury, Virginia, and a veteran came up to Trump before he took the stage and offered his service medal to the mogul.
.@realDonaldTrump: “A man came up to me, and he handed me his Purple Heart” pic.twitter.com/ZoFf2qysjK
— POLITICO (@politico) August 2, 2016
“I said to him, ‘is that like the real one or is that a copy,'” Trump said as he quoted the encounter. “‘That’s my real Purple Heart, I have such confidence in you.'”
Trump briefly paused to acknowledge the enormity of the gesture, but before he brought Louis Dorfman on stage to thank him personally, he said this.
“I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier.”
According to MSNBC’s Trump beat reporter Katy Tur, however, the medal was a copy, and was given in the spirit of rebutting criticism over the Khan flap:
The man who gave Trump his purple heart told me earlier today, it was a copy of his purple heart.
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) August 2, 2016
The man gave Trump his purple heart to remind him that "more than one vet" died for the USA. It was to defend Trump for the Khan fallout.
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) August 2, 2016
The comments come as Trump continued to draw the ire of Khizr Khan and other gold star families. This comes on top of his history of controversial statements about veterans, as well as avoiding the draft for the Vietnam War.
[Image via screengrab]
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