Donald Trump has demonstrated a tendency to make outrageous statements that inflame the liberal media, but that doesn’t mean the liberal media have some kind of right to misinterpret them flagrantly. That happened on Monday when Trump was speaking to a group of veterans called the Retired American Warriors PAC in the D.C.-area suburb of Herndon, Virginia.
The mischaracterization became with the left-wing site Buzzfeed.com – the group who just had four millennial Trump-bashers hired by CNN. Their headline: “Trump Suggests That Soldiers With PTSD Aren’t ‘Strong.’”
Actually, in context, Trump was speaking sympathetically when he suggested many of the “warriors” in the audience could handle the horrors of war, but “a lot of people can’t handle it,” and need help. Trump insisted “We’re losing so many great people that can be taken care of if they have proper care.”
So how is it that Trump is somehow insulting the “great people” he’s pledging to help with more counseling and care? "News" reporters often ended the quote without that context. The fact-checking site Snopes.com has ruled it "Mostly False," insisting Trump's comments were "not derisive."
Then that misconception repeated itself:
Trump tells room of veterans that soldiers with PTSD ‘can’t handle it' – McClatchy News
Trump suggests veterans with PTSD aren’t ‘strong’ – Washington Post
Trump Implies Vets Suffering From PTSD 'Can't Handle' War – NBCNews.com
Donald Trump: Military suicides happen to service members who 'can't handle it' – CNN.com
Trump on PTSD: Some veterans aren’t strong enough to ‘handle it’ – Yahoo! News
Donald Trump sparks outrage by suggesting vets with PTSD aren’t ‘strong’ and ‘can’t handle it’ – New York Daily News
You can see more of that inaccurate verbal abuse from the cover of the Daily News on Tuesday:
Trump's questioner, Chad Robichaux, who had PTSD after eight tours in Afghanistan, issued a statement condemning inaccurate media reports: "I think it’s sickening that anyone would twist Mr. Trump’s comments to me in order to pursue a political agenda. I took his comments to be thoughtful and understanding of the struggles many veterans have, and I believe he is committed to helping them."
The transcript (via Time.com) is below:
CHAD ROBICHAUX, former Marine: Good morning Mr. Trump. As you mentioned there is a tragic suicide epidemic among our veterans, among our military and their families. While the military and the V.A. are working on the problem, their efforts continue to fall short. There are a number of faith-based programs outside the DOD and the V.A., that are continuing to be successful in stopping suicide and divorce rates.
Spiritual fitness works on these types of problems. The government is not taking advantage of these programs and services. So my question for you is, when you become president, will you support and fund a more holistic approach to solve the problems and issues of veteran suicide, PTSD, TBI and other related military mental and behavioral health issues and will you take steps to restore the historic role of our Chaplains and the importance of spiritual fitness and spiritual resiliency programs?
TRUMP: Yes I would. Look we need that so badly and when you… (APPLAUSE)
When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and you’re strong and you can handle it. But a lot of people can’t handle it. And they see horror stories. They see events that you couldn’t see in a movie, nobody would believe it.Now we need a mental health help and medical. And it’s one of the things that I think is least addressed and is one of the things that — like your question — one of the things that I hear the most about when I go around and talk to the veterans. So we’re going to have a very, very robust, level of performance having to do with mental health. We are losing so many great people that can be taken care of if they have proper care.
You know when you hear the 22 suicides a day it’s a big part of your question. But when you hear the 22 suicides a day that should never be. That should never be. So we’re going to be addressing that very strongly and the whole mental health issue is going to be a very important issue when I take over and the V.A. is going to be fixed in so many ways but that’s going to be one of the ways we’re going to help.
And that’s in many respects going to be the number one thing we have to do. Because I think it’s really been left behind. OK? Thank you very much.
