Trump: Ask General Kelly if Obama called him when his son died in Afghanistan…

Yesterday Trump claimed that his predecessors, namely Obama, didn’t call the families of fallen soldiers:

After pushback on this from Obama people, Trump is now backing off of this claim, at least somewhat:

DC EXAMINER – President Trump said Tuesday that anyone with questions of whether former President Barack Obama called the families of fallen service members can ask White House chief of staff John Kelly if he received a phone call from Obama.

“I think I’ve called every family of someone who’s died,” Trump told Fox News radio host Brian Kilmeade. “As far as other representatives, I don’t know. You could ask General Kelly, did he get a call from Obama?”

Kelly’s son, Marine 2nd Lt. Robert Kelly, was killed while serving in Afghanistan in 2010.

Trump first claimed Monday his predecessors, including Obama, didn’t call the families of service members who are killed in action, but then said he was told Obama “didn’t often” make phone calls.

The president, though, said Tuesday he has called “virtually everybody” and said he plans to call the family members of four U.S. soldiers killed in Niger this month.

Trump also said he has written letters to their families, which he will send in the coming days. Trump’s comments Monday were the first remarks he made about the deaths, which had occurred Oct. 4.

As Trump likes to do, he claims once again that he’s better than his predecessors at doing something. The problem is this is a profoundly sensitive issue and he shouldn’t be so flippant and inaccurate when he discusses it.

Look I’m glad that Trump calls all the families of fallen soldiers. It’s a very important duty that he should take seriously. But I would also suggest that former President George W. Bush took this duty very seriously as well. To malign him in this ‘predecessors’ claim is irresponsible.

I’m sure he’s right about General Kelly not getting a call from Obama. He would know. But he should be more careful when commenting on this in the future and should avoid generalizations like this, especially if he’s just basing it one case.


Comment Policy: Please read our comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges.