Trump slammed for declaring medal he gave GOP donor 'better' than 'dead' soldiers’ awards

Donald Trump, the ex-Commander-in-Chief, is under fire for saying presidential medals given to civilians are “much better” than those given to members of the U.S. Armed Forces – at times given posthumously – for acts of valor, by Presidents via their members of Congress.

On Thursday, Trump praised the eighth richest woman in the world, billionaire GOP donor Miriam Adelson, who runs a pro-Trump super PAC, after his campaign staff reportedly has spent days trying to clean up the “mess” he made when he directed angry texts to be sent to her. According to The Independent, Trump directed the texts to Adelson, wife of the late casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, to call the people who run her political action committee “RINOs,” Republicans in Name Only.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump awarded Miriam Adelson the nation’s highest honor: the Presidential Medal of Freedom. On Thursday, from his Bedminster private golf club, Trump told the audience, “I have to say, Miriam. I watched Sheldon sitting so proud in the White House when we gave Miriam the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian. It’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor, but civilian version.”

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“It’s actually much better, because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor. That’s soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape, because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead. She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman. And they’re rated equal.”

In addition to Adelson, Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to right-wing broadcaster Rush Limbaugh, conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and Republican U.S. Congressmen Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan, among others.

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Trump’s remarks echo his early entrance into the 2016 presidential race, denigrating the war hero status of the late U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ): “He’s not a war hero,” Trump shockingly said. “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured, OK?”

They also echo his reported remarks calling members of the U.S. Military who gave their lives “suckers” and “losers.”

VoteVets, the progressive political action committee and veterans’ activist group on Friday posted an ad featuring Gold Star parents, focused on Trump’s attacks on veterans. They write: “It’s not just his disrespect for the Medal of Honor. Trump calls our war dead ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’ HE’S THE TRUE LOSER.”

U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a retired astronaut and retired U.S. Navy captain writes: “When the Medal of Honor is awarded posthumously, it’s often to Americans who have thrown themselves on grenades or braved enemy fire — heroes who have paid the ultimate price to save others. Trump calls them ‘suckers and losers.’ He has no idea how to put others before himself.”

Writer Dario DiBattista, an Iraq War veteran, responded to a video of Trump remarks. He wrote: “Part of my first day as a combat replacement in Iraq, was the memorial ceremony for Cpl Jason Dunham. He leaped on a grenade to absorb its blast and save his fellow Marines. He made the Ultimate Sacrifice. Not even close to the same award Rush Limbaugh got. F all the way off.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

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