Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has written a letter to CNN president Jeff Zucker asking the news network donate the ad profits for next week’s GOP presidential debate to veterans. Trump posted a photo of the letter to his Twitter account. See the tweet below:
A letter to @CNN President Jeff Zucker- pic.twitter.com/HKUYv9tFRm
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2015
Reports surfaced last week that ad rates for the September 16 debate had grown astronomically, something Trump has said is due to his participation. The New York businessman and reality-TV star suggested Zucker should view CNN’s airing of the debate as a “public service” and “not accept the massive profits.”
“I believe that all profits from this broadcast should go to various VETERANS groups, a list of which I will send to you in the near future,” Trump writes. “The veterans of our country, our finest people, have been treated horribly by our government and its ‘all talk and no action’ politicians. In fact, some would say they are treated like third class citizens—even worse, in many cases, than illegal immigrants. It is about time that someone comes to their aid. Let’s start now!”
Trump has frequently called for better treatment of veterans, though he’s recently gotten into hot water due to comments about people who serve in the military. The New York Times reported this week that in a new biography, Trump describes his time as a student at the New York Military Academy, a prep school, as giving him “more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military.” Trump received several draft deferments during the Vietnam War and did not serve in the military.
Trump has also criticized Arizona senator John McCain, who was shot down over Vietnam and spent several years in a North Vietnamese prison where he was beaten and tortured.
