Ex-Trump Chief-of-Staff Finally Confirms Reports About His Shocking Statements on Veterans: ‘God Help Us’
AP Photo/Artie Walker Jr.
Gen. John Kelly, former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, confirmed to CNN on Monday the details of a bombshell September 2020 story about the then-president referring to Americans who were wounded or gave their lives in the service of the country as “suckers” and “losers.”
“What can I add that has not already been said?” Kelly said in the statement, adding:
A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all “suckers” because “there is nothing in it for them.” A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because “it doesn’t look good for me.” A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.
A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women.
A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who cavalierly suggests that a selfless warrior who has served his country for 40 years in peacetime and war should lose his life for treason – in expectation that someone will take action. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.
“There is nothing more that can be said,” concluded Kelly, whose son was killed while serving in Afghanistan. “God help us.”
Kelly, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general, had long been speculated to be the source of the quotes in The Atlantic article by Jeffrey Goldberg. The article was round blasted by Trump and his supporters at the time and dubbed fake news.
“Steve Jobs would not be happy that his wife is wasting money he left her on a failing Radical Left Magazine that is run by a con man [Goldberg] and spews FAKE NEWS & HATE,” Trump tweeted after the article was published. “Call her, write her, let her know how you feel!!!”
CNN directly connected Kelly’s statement to the article, noting:
In the statement, Kelly is confirming, on the record, a number of details in a 2020 story in The Atlantic by editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, including Trump turning to Kelly on Memorial Day 2017, as they stood among those killed in Afghanistan and Iraq in Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery, and saying, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”
Last month, Goldberg also published an article in which it was revealed Trump refused to be seen at an event with wounded military veterans, another detail Kelly confirmed.
