By Aaron Miller-
President Donald Trump has blasted an unproven claim that he made insensitive remarks to the recently bereaved widow of a soldier .
The U.S president said the claim was “totally fabricated”, and denied any guilt in relation to the vague allegation.
Democratic lawmaker, Frederica Wilson, said he had told Myeshia Johnson: “He knew what he was signing up for, but I guess it hurts anyway.”
The comments are believed to be in relation to the deaths of service soldiers killed by Islamic militants.
Sgt La David Johnson was among four US special service soldiers killed in Niger by Islamist militants this month.
Mr Trump had been criticised for not contacting the families of the dead servicemen right after the fatal ambush on 4 October, afte rhe himself had slammed former president, Barack Obama, for not making contact with family members of U.S Soldiers killed in combat
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The accuser, a partisan Democratic congresswoman, is adamant that President Trump was insensitive in his remarks, but without specific information about what exactly the U.S president said, the allegation is unfounded. Trump is known to be a very direct individual with some alien characteristics that make him the very unusual character that he is. The perception of him by many Americans to be very straight about his ideological proclivities comes with the criticism of misjudgement on his part in many instances. Sensitivity is not known to be Trump’s strongest point, but the allegation here has limited backbone to validate the offence caused. Trump has rubbished the allegation , which has no concrete facts publicly known A White House official said Mr Trump’s conversations with the families of dead servicemen were private.
Mr Trump later told reporters: “I did not say what she [Ms Wilson] said… I had a very nice conversation.”
When asked about what “proof” he could offer, Trump responded: “Let her make her statement again, then you will find out.” His response appears to mean that she has no proof of the offence caused because the complainant has not spelt out the wrongdoing on the part of the U.S President. Her failure to spell out the offence does not mean no offence was caused. President’s Trump accuser may find it difficult to openly repeat the precise words allegedly used by Trump, but those precise words are precisely what will be need to assess the verity of her claim.
President Trump’s call was reportedly made shortly before Sgt Johnson’s coffin arrived by aircraft in Miami.
A witness, Ms Wilson told the Washington Post (WPLG),, she had heard the president’s “so insensitive” remarks to the widow on speakerphone in a limousine.
“Yeah, he [President Trump] said that,” Ms Wilson said. “To me, that is something that you can say in a conversation, but you shouldn’t say that to a grieving widow.
“And everyone knows when you go to war, you could possibly not come back alive. But you don’t remind a grieving widow of that.”
Ms Wilson told the Washington Post that Ms Johnson, who is expecting the couple’s third child, had broken down in tears after the conversation.
“He made her cry,” Ms Wilson said.
The congresswoman told the newspaper that she had wanted to grab the phone and “curse him out”, but an army sergeant who was holding the handset would not let her speak to the president.
She later responded to Mr Trump’s denial by tweeting: “I stand my account of the call with @realDonaldTrump and was not the only one who heard and was dismayed by his insensitive remarks.”
And Sgt Johnson’s mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, told the Washington Post newspaper that President Trump “did disrespect my son”.
She said she was present during the call from the White House on Tuesday, and stood by Ms Wilson’s account of the call.
Trump had sparked controversy with his false comments that his predecessor, Barack Obama, and other former US presidents had not called the relatives of dead service members. However, The Associated Press says Mr Trump has made personal contact with some families of dead soldiers – but not all.
“What’s different is that Trump, alone among them, has picked a political fight over who’s done better to honour the war dead and their families,” the news agency reports.
“He placed himself at the top of this pantheon, boasting Tuesday that ‘I think I’ve called every family of someone who’s died’ while past presidents didn’t place such calls.”
Errors like this connected to far reaching statements are not expected of a world leader , who is expected to subject any categorical statements they make to a rigid process of scrutiny and examination. The expected remit of a president is to deliver his mandate as thoroughly as possible and aim to improve on the successes or failures of his or her predecessors. Undermining former presidents by making mistaken statements should be avoided.
Statements like that will make Trump’s critics continue to wade into him to the extent of believing any allegation made against him. If President Trump made remarks perceived to have implied that members of the army representing the U.S faced a high risk of detach which their well wishers must have known about, that’s not ideal. Trump may have been trying to be frank with them, but empathy cannot be abandoned in any scenarios involving the families of the bereaved.