Washington – Donald Trump told a Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally on Sunday that people in the U.S. illegally often are cared for better than the nation’s military veterans.
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“We’re not going to allow that to happen any longer,” Trump told supporters gathered at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Dedicated to remembering prisoners of war and those missing in action, the crowd cheered — a sign, perhaps, that some veterans groups are stepping past their anger over Trump’s comments last year in which he said he likes “people who weren’t captured” in wars. That had been a dig at Arizona Sen. John McCain, who had been captured and held for more than five years during the Vietnam War. Trump claimed that McCain was a “war hero because he was captured.” Trump has refused to apologize to McCain.
Many veterans groups were furious, but since then Trump has worked to try to repair the damage. He frequently honors veterans at his rallies and he has come out with a plan to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs. He also held a fundraiser for veterans’ causes in place of an Iowa debate that he skipped. Still, Trump, who avoided the draft through a series of deferments, drew scrutiny for not immediately distributing the $6 million he’d claimed to raise, including $1 million he’d pledged himself.
He is expected to hold a news conference Tuesday to announce the name of the charities selected to receive the money.
On Sunday, Trump also vowed to “knock the hell out of” the Islamic State group by building a bigger and better military and by cutting wait times for veterans needing medical care.
“If there’s a wait, we’re going to give the right for those people to go to a private doctor or even a public doctor and get themselves taken care of and we’re going to pay the bill,” he said.
Trump has a loyal following with bikers, who frequently attend his rallies, where they sometimes clash with Trump protesters. Among those eager to hear Trump speak was Louis Naymik, 52, of Clarksburg, Maryland, who said he served in the Ohio Army National Guard for four years.
“There’s history in the air here,” he said. “We’re living in historic times in our country today with the election and the choosing of a new president. And I just wanted to give honor to those who have fallen and sacrificed their lives for our country.”
Naymik, who works in radiology, was wearing a Trump shirt and said he had been a supporter since the day Trump announced his candidacy
“What I like about Trump is that he is one of us. He’s not a politician,” he said, adding that Trump would bring the country back to its old values, put American citizens first and honor its veterans.
Draft Dodger Trump raised much $ for a phony veterans group, which saw zero dollars. He panders to his rightist thug followers like ‘rolling thunder’ motorcycle gang. I’m sure many frum posters have a ‘hog’ (Harley Davidson) motorcycle they ride to shul on. These bums would tear your beards out in 5 seconds.
I’m tired of hearing the same recriminations about Trump’s remarks, pertaining to John McCain. McCain keeps being touted as a national hero. The fact of the matter is that McCain could have been released from custody, many years before he actually was. He chose to remain behind, on his own volition. Secondly, McCain has consistently pushed for more military involvement in the Middle East. One would think that he would be against war, after what he went through. Last, McCain was very obnoxious to another war hero, former Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel. Hagel was on the ground in combat, for over a year with his brother (during the Vietnam War). McCain did not like Hagel, because Hagel wouldn’t endorse the so-called Iraq “surge” in 2007, when he was a Senator from Nebraska. As a result, during his confirmation hearings, Hagel was treated like a dog by McCain, and was lambasted, in public. He was treated in a far worse manner, than the remarks that Trump made about McCain. Yet, nobody ever reads about that in the newspapers, since everything is slanted against Trump!
To #1 - I don’t like your use of the term “draft dodger”. A “draft dodger” is someone who never signed up for Selective Service begin with. There were those who did that; when they were caught, some were prosecuted. However, the Supreme Court ruled in 1970, that there was a statute of limitations, regarding how long the government had to prosecute such individuals. Secondly, Trump obeyed the law, and was legally entitled to a draft deferment, as long as he was a full time student. There were millions of cases, in that category. Third, Mr. “Hashomer”, unless you’ve ever served in the armed forces of the USA, you have no right referring to anyone as a “draft dodger”. The so-called draft, has been dead and buried for forty three years. It should never again be used in the USA!