Trump doubles down; says he didn't make controversial remark to widow
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 10/18/17 12:10 PM EDT 3,776
President Trump on Wednesday doubled down on his denial that he told the widow of a solider killed in Niger that her husband “knew what he signed up for.”
Speaking at the White House, Trump pushed back on details of his call with Army Sgt. La David Johnson’s widow that were provided by Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), who was in the car with the widow, Myeshia Johnson, during the conversation.
The comments followed an early morning tweet, in which the president claimed Wilson “totally fabricated” her account of the call.
Trump said he “had a very nice conversation with the woman, the wife, who sounded like a lovely woman.”
The president’s denials are at odds with Wilson’s description of the conversation, as well comments made by Johnson’s mother, who stood behind the congresswoman’s statements.
"President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband,” Cowanda Jones-Johnson, who said she was also in the car, told The Washington Post.
The president’s denials are at odds with Wilson’s description of the conversation, as well comments made by Johnson’s mother, who stood behind the congresswoman’s statements.
"President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband,” Cowanda Jones-Johnson, who said she was also in the car, told The Washington Post.
Wilson first revealed details of Trump’s call with Johnson’s widow late Tuesday, after his body was returned to his hometown of Miami. "He knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt," Trump said, according to the lawmaker.
“I still stand by my account of the call b/t @realDonaldTrump and Myeshia Johnson. That is her name, Mr. Trump. Not ‘the woman’ or ‘the wife,’” she tweeted Wednesday after the president spoke.
Trump, asked about his claim that he has “proof” of his account, said “let her [Wilson] make her statement again and you’ll find out.”
The White House has not responded to a request to provide documentation backing up the president’s claim.
Trump’s comments have engulfed the White House in controversy and renewed doubts about his ability to empathize with the families of fallen soldiers.
Wilson was among four U.S. service members killed earlier this month in an ambush by Islamist militants. Military officials have said the soldiers were on a train-and-advise mission with Nigerien forces.
Trump ignited a firestorm of criticism Monday with his response to a reporter who asked why he had waited nearly two weeks to contact the families of the fallen.
Trump suggested he has done more than former President Obama and his other predecessors to make contact with the families of fallen soldiers.
“I think I’ve called every family of someone who’s died,” Trump said in an interview Tuesday with Fox News Radio.
He also suggested his chief of staff, retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, was not contacted by Obama after his son was killed in Afghanistan.
“As far as other representatives, I don’t know. You could ask General Kelly, did he get a call from Obama?” Trump said.
The Associated Press reported Kelly was invited to a White House breakfast for families of fallen soldiers in 2011. Kelly and his wife reportedly sat at a table with then-first lady Michelle Obama.
It’s not the first time Trump has feuded with Americans who lost loved ones in conflict.
He sparred with the Gold Star parents of Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq in 2004, after they spoke out against his campaign during the Democratic National Convention.
In 2015, Trump also took a dig at Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who spent years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. “I like people who weren’t captured,” he said at the time.
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