Head of top veterans’ group slams Trump’s 'asinine comments' about Medal of Honor recipients

16 August 2024

One leading veterans' group is taking offense to former President Donald Trump's suggestion that an award he gave a top donor was equal to or greater than the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Earlier this week, Trump heaped praise on Miriam Adelson — the widow of Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson — who has pledged to spend $100 million of her own wealth to help the former president in the 2024 election. During his Thursday press conference in Bedminster, New Jersey, he recalled a ceremony at the White House in 2018 when he awarded Miriam Adelson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest civilian honor a U.S. president can bestow. That press conference notably came after the New York Times reported that she was reconsidering her financial support of the ex-president after he supposedly directed staff to send her a flood of angry text messages.

"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," Trump said on Thursday. "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

Trump's comment to Adelson was widely condemned on Friday. Now, the head of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) — a century-old organization with more than one million members — is weighing in on what he called the former president's "flippant remarks."

"These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also crassly characterizes the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty," VFW national commander Al Lipphardt said in a press release.

"When a candidate to serve as our military’s commander-in-chief so brazenly dismisses the valor and reverence symbolized by the Medal of Honor and those who have earned it, I must question whether they would discharge their responsibilities to our men and women in uniform with the seriousness and discernment necessary for such a powerful position," he continued. "It is even more disappointing when these comments come from a man who already served in this noble office and should frankly already know better."

"While the Presidential Medal of Freedom maybe our nation’s highest civilian award, the Medal of Honor is more sacred as it represents the gallantry and intrepidity of courageous and selfless service members, often at the cost of grievous wounds and even their lives," Lipphardt added.

Lipphardt concluded his statement by reminding the former president that he awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor 12 times during his administration, and that the recipients were "heroes not of his own choosing."

"He bestowed those medals on behalf of Congress, representing all Americans of a grateful nation," he said. "We hold the donation of their lives in service to our country in the highest esteem, and so should he.”

Trump has previously made comments denigrating veterans, both as a candidate and as commander-in-chief. In 2022, the New Yorker reported that then-president Trump asked for organizers of a military parade to not include any "wounded guys," saying that it "doesn't look good for me." He reportedly added that "nobody wants to see that."

Click here to read Lipphardt's full statement on the VFW website.

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