Hillary Clinton tore into Donald Trump on Tuesday for his supposedly offensive comments this week post-traumatic stress and veteran suicides.
“Some of the strongest men and women any of us will ever meet have experienced post-traumatic stress. Donald Trump’s comments are not just ignorant, they’re harmful because they give voice to the stigma that has led generations of veterans to hide their struggles instead of getting life-saving help,” Clinton told reporters at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
“That stigma still exists. And lots of people who need help aren’t getting it. You know what doesn’t help with that? When a man asking to be our next commander in chief stands up and says post-traumatic stress isn’t a problem if you’re strong,” she said.
Trump was asked Monday at an event organized by the Retired American Warriors PAC in Northern Virginia to explain what he’d do to address veterans’ suicides. He gave a lengthy response in which he promised to fix the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
On Tuesday, Clinton blasted Trump’s off-the-cuff comment.
“Every one of our troops matter. Their wounds can be visible and invisible. Most of us know that, but apparently Donald doesn’t. Our troops deserve a commander in chief who understands and respects the sacrifices they make, whether they’re living with post-traumatic stress or they’re POWs or they don’t make it home and they leave a grieving family behind,” she said.
“And every American dealing with mental health challenges deserves compassion whether they’ve ever served in uniform or not. So I hope the voters are hearing Donald Trump loudly and clearly,” Clinton said.
There is disagreement in media over whether Trump’s full remarks this week on PTSD were malicious or merely ignorant.
Here is what Trump said in full:
When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of folks in this room have seen many times over, and you’re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can’t handle it, and they see horror stories, they see events that you couldn’t see in a movie, nobody would believe it.
Now we need a mental health help and medical — and it’s one of the things that I think is least addressed and it’s one of the things I hear … one of the things I hear most about when I go around and talk to the veterans.
So we’re going to have a very, very robust, very, very robust level of performance having to do with mental health. We are losing so many great people that can be taken care of if they have proper care.
You know when you hear the 22 suicides a day, it’s a big part of your question, but when you hear the 22 suicides a day, that should never be. That should never be. So we’re going to be addressing that very strongly.
And the whole mental health issue is going to be a very important issue when I take over, and the VA is going to be fixed in so many ways, but that’s going to be one of the ways we’re going to help. And that’s in many respects going to be the number one thing we have to do because I think it’s really been left behind. Ok? Thank you very much.
Though many in the press saw Trump’s comments as harmful and insensitive, others saw them as clumsy and content-free, but not mean-spirited.
