Donald Trump, whose father bought him five Vietnam deferments, has once again disrespected all American military servicepeople, past and present, by saying a civilian award has more merit than one for military service.
Trump pettily referred to the Presidential Medal of Freedom as the "better" award when compared to the top military honor, the Medal of Honor, because those recipients are often deceased or injured.
Speaking at a campaign event intended to discuss antisemitism, Trump was introduced by Miriam Adelson, a wealthy Jewish Republican donor and the widow of Sheldon Adelson, who happily pumped millions of dollars of his own money into electing Republican candidates before he died in 2021.
Trump awarded Adelson the Medal of Freedom in November 2018, probably because she paid really well for it.
"That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian. It’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor," Trump mistakenly referring to the highest military honor bestowed for valor in combat as the Congressional Medal of Honor.
"But civilian version, it’s actually much better because everyone [who] gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they're soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead," Trump concluded. “She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman, and they’re rated equal, but she got the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she got it for — and that’s through committees and everything else.”
You know, just like he prefers soldiers who don't get caught.
The VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) issued a statement blasting Trump's latest slam against the military.
"These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also crassly characterizes the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty," the statement reads in part.