The Atlantic’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg said Friday morning that those close to President Donald Trump are in “disbelief” about his stance towards veterans and military service. In a bombshell piece published Thursday night, Goldberg reported that Trump had referred to veterans — including former POW and senator John McCain — as “losers” and “suckers.”
“There’s a general sort of shock and disbelief that someone — not even that the person would articulate views that way — I think there’s genuine curiosity about why a person would ever think that way or how a person comes to those thoughts,” said Goldberg, who also reported that Trump considers those who died in battle to be “losers” and requested amputees not be included in planning for a military parade as, in his words, “nobody wants to see that.”
Speaking on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Goldberg continued, “It’s so irregular in a country that values veterans, that values service generally and military service in particular. There’s just a general kind of confusion, even more than anger. Disbelief, I would say, in a lot of circles.”
Goldberg’s reporting was later corroborated by the Associated Press.
Thursday, Trump denied on Twitter Twitter that he has never called McCain a “loser” or disparaged veterans. In fact, Trump specifically did that at least once, publicly, and the whole thing was captured on video.
Goldberg also reported in his piece that Trump called soldiers who died during World War I “losers” and “suckers”; told his senior staff “we’re not going to support that loser’s funeral” after McCain died, and later called him “a f–ing loser”; mocked former President George H.W. Bush for being shot down while piloting combat missions during World War II; and disrespected the son of former chief of staff John Kelly, who died in 2010 at age 29 while serving as a Marine Corps officer in Afghanistan. Trump and Kelly were visiting his grave site on Memorial Day, according to Goldberg, when Trump turned to Kelly and asked, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”
Watch the whole conversation via MSNBC, above.
