SALEM, New Hampshire — Joe Biden slammed President Trump for brushing off brain injuries sustained by U.S. troops after Iranian missile strikes on Iraqi bases earlier this month.
“When he was asked about it, he said, ‘It’s not very serious, it’s just bad headaches.’ Folks, this can’t be sustained,” Biden, 77, said at a presidential campaign town hall in Salem, New Hampshire, on Saturday. “Let’s be clear about something. Hundreds of thousands of troops have suffered traumatic brain injuries. At this day, we still are dealing with the issue. They’re real, and they are deadly serious. And our troops deserve a commander in chief who understands them and their needs.”
While no U.S. forces were killed in the Iranian attack earlier this month following Trump’s ordered strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the Pentagon said last week that some service members “displayed concussion-like symptoms.”
Trump on Wednesday explained why he originally said the attack resulted in no injuries.
“I heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things, but I can report it is not very serious,” Trump said. “I’ve seen people with no legs and with no arms. I’ve seen people that were horribly, horribly injured in that area, that war. … I don’t consider that to be bad injuries.”
On Friday, the Pentagon revealed that the exact number diagnosed with traumatic head injuries was 34.
“There’s 300,000 people come back with post-traumatic stress from these wars. Twenty-one present and former military committing suicide a week in the United States of America,” Biden said.
“We only have one truly sacred obligation,” Biden added. “To protect those we send to war, care for them when they come home, and care for their families. And it requires the one thing — they don’t ask for anything, just a little respect, just to be treated with a little bit of decency.”
