Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie defended President Trump after a scathing report by the Atlantic claimed his boss used derisive language referring to fallen soldiers as “losers” and dead Marines as “suckers.”
When asked by CNN’s Dana Bash if he’s ever heard the president use that kind of talk to describe U.S. service members or veterans, Wilkie responded, “absolutely not,” adding he would be offended if the report is true.
“I think [the] anonymous [sources] are the same people that brought you fake heart attacks, fake strokes, Russian collusion,” Wilkie said Sunday on State of the Union, referring to other stories the Trump administration has pegged as false.
Wilkie was also asked about the 2016 presidential contest, during which Trump disparaged the late Sen. John McCain, who was a military veteran, and other prisoners of war. He dismissed the comments as political rhetoric.
“I was a friend with John McCain. His family and my mother’s family grew up in the same county in Mississippi,” Wilkie said. “He was very much responsible for my career and advancing it, and President Trump has been the same. I understand politics. I understand name-calling when it comes from both sides.”
Wilkie also said actions are more important than words.
“It’s politics,” he said. “It’s the heat of the campaign. I judge a man by his actions, and the actions have been beneficial for veterans all across this country in ways that we have not seen since the end of World War II.”
Wilkie strayed from Trump when asked if he believes McCain was a war hero, a label Trump has disputed in the past.
“Oh, absolutely,” Wilkie said about McCain’s military legacy.
