The race for 2016 devolved into an “I-Love-Our-Vets-More-Than-U-Do arms race” by Thursday night, according to veterans advocates who did not appreciate being used as a pawns by those vying to be president.
Donald Trump fired the first shot when he announced he would not attend the Fox News Republican presidential debate on Thursday night over a conflict with the network and moderator Megyn Kelly. Instead, Trump announced that he would hold a competing rally at the same time to raise money for wounded warriors.
“You are a loser,” was the response from Jon Soltz, an Iraq war veteran and chairman of VoteVets. “We are not your prop and if you aren’t going to show up at tonight’s debate, you should use that time to craft a coherent plan to care for our country’s veterans.”
Despite the initial backlash, other candidates soon chimed in. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, offered to donate $1.5 million to a veterans’ charity if Trump would debate him one-on-one.
“Now it’s Cruz yanking vets into the nastiness of the presidential fights before Iowa. This is not what vets need,” Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, tweeted.
Carly Fiorina tweeted Wednesday night that she was “upping the ante” and would donate $2 million to vets to take on Trump in a debate as well.
“The I-Love-Our-Vets-More-Than-U-Do arms race escalates,” Rieckhoff tweeted in response.
But Trump didn’t take her up on the offer.
“My campaign offered to donate $2mm to veterans to debate @realDonaldTrump. I guess @MegynKelly isn’t only one he’s afraid to face tonight,” Fiorina tweeted, sparking even more backlash from vets groups for rescinding the offered donation.
“Threatening to withhold a $2m contribution to veterans’ groups is pretty low. Make the donation either way,” VoteVets tweeted Thursday night.
Rieckhoff said IAVA would not be receiving any of the money raised by Trump’s event in Iowa and does not endorse any candidate.
As of Thursday night, it was unclear who would benefit from Trump’s fundraiser, which Soltz called a “political stunt.”
A spokeswoman for Trump’s campaign appeared on CNN Thursday afternoon and was unable to name one veterans’ group that would benefit from the fundraiser when asked by Jim Sciutto.
“I believe there might be a list on the website,” Katrina Pierson said. “There are a lot of organizations that are in the queue to sign up for this. There are veterans that will be attending tonight and will be doing some of the program as well.”
