A conservative think tank has dismissed allegations that President Trump made disparaging remarks about military veterans, as well as others that claimed top generals prioritize the military-industrial complex over the lives of soldiers.
Controversy stirred late Thursday when anonymous allegations were made in a story by the Atlantic that Trump had called war dead “suckers” and “losers” and declined to visit during inclement weather a World War I cemetery in France in 2018. Parts of the report have been subsequently confirmed by multiple outlets despite a strong pushback from the White House.
However, retired Lt. Col. Jim Carafano, vice president of the Heritage Foundation’s Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, said: “You have a quote which doesn’t sound like the president.”
“It’s completely inconsistent with everything the president has ever said about veterans and military service.”
Carafano also told the Washington Examiner that comments Trump made Monday purporting that soldiers love him and that his top generals aimed to dole out contracts to defense companies must be measured against Trump’s own actions.
“This president is clearly a ‘peace through strength’ president. He absolutely values the contribution to the military,” Carafano said, echoing a refrain first uttered by President Ronald Reagan at a U.S. Military Academy commencement address.
“Generals don’t have all the answers,” Carafano said. “The president makes a prudent choice based upon the input from all kinds of people.”
Army chief of staff Gen. James McConville pushed back Tuesday on Trump’s assertion that generals make battlefield decisions in order to benefit the private sector.
“I can assure the American people that the senior leaders would only recommend sending our troops to combat when it is required in national security and in the last resort,” McConville said in a virtual discussion hosted by Defense One.
“I’m talking about generals, I’m talking admirals, I’m talking sergeant majors, many of these leaders have sons and daughters that serve in the military, many of these leaders have sons and daughters who have gone to combat or may be in combat right now,” McConville said. “We take this very, very seriously in how we make our recommendations.”
The controversy regarding the alleged disparaging comments has continued as the White House put forward a 20th on-the-record staffer to deny the allegations.
In the meantime, the Associated Press and the Washington Post claimed to have confirmed the anonymous comments.
“I think it’s much ado about nothing,” said Carafano. “Nothing leads me to believe that it’s an accurate statement of the president’s views.”
He added: “You have to look at the president’s actions.”
Carafano also dismissed a recent poll by the Military Times, surveying 1,018 active-duty soldiers prior to the party conventions, that indicated that service members were breaking for Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the coming presidential election by a slim margin of 41.3% to 37.4%.
Carafano said he spent 25 years in the Army, beginning his career under Democratic President Jimmy Carter and serving under Bill Clinton for eight years. Neither Democratic president affected his commitment to serve, he said, underscoring that soldiers serve the nation, regardless of the president.
“They are going to serve honorably regardless of who is the president and what the policies are,” he said. “I don’t think this is something that affects readiness or morale or anything.”
Likewise, Carafano said adversaries make their calculus on “power and politics.”
“They know where the U.S. stands, and they know that’s not going to change because of domestic politics,” he said.
