Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden hit back at President Donald Trump’s reported insulting of America’s war dead with a simple promise.
Trump reportedly referred to U.S. service members killed in World War I as “suckers” and “losers” during a 2018 visit to France, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg reported Thursday. A spokeswoman for Trump denied the allegation.
Biden responded to the report on Twitter: “If I have the honor of serving as the next commander in chief, I will ensure that our American heroes know that I will have their back and honor their sacrifice. Always.”
In a further statement, Biden said that if the report was true, then it was “yet another marker of how deeply President Trump and I disagree about the role” of president.
“I have long said that, as a nation, we have many obligations, but we only have one truly sacred obligation — to prepare and equip those we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families, both while they are deployed and after they return,” he continued.
“Generations of American troops have shed blood around the world in defense of our freedoms and to protect U.S. vital interests,” said Biden, adding that “the sacrifice and bravery of our troops and their willingness to serve our nation should be honored.”
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris backed up Biden’s comments:
The article featuring Trump’s reported insults came the same week that a Military Times poll showed the president’s favorability rate was falling among active-duty officers and troops.