‘Careless’ Purple Heart Remarks Put Trump in Hot Water With Veterans

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Republican nominee for president Donald Trump has upset several United States military veterans with comments he made Tuesday, seemingly joking about earning a Purple Heart.

Speaking at a rally in Virginia, Mr. Trump announced that a veteran had given him his Purple Heart as a gift. Trump said “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier.”

The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving with the U.S. military.

Trump’s comments, which seem to make light of the sacrifice involved in earning that decoration, have upset several veterans who did not take kindly to Mr. Trump’s remarks.

One veteran took special offense at the fact that Mr. Trump had the opportunity to join the armed forces repeatedly and yet deferred the draft five times.

“Obviously he didn’t ‘always want a purple heart’ or he wouldn’t have deferred his draft multiple times over and over rather than heading into the service when his country needed him,” Mohammed M. Shaker, told Conservative Review in reference to Trump’s comments.

Shaker is the chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Tampa Bay and a veteran of OIF 09-10 with the 82nd Airborne Division. He served as a specialist, combat medic.

“Here’s the thing,” Shaker said. “It isn’t fun getting a purple heart. Nobody wants a purple heart. Purple hearts are awarded posthumously and awarded to servicemen whom have lost life, limb, or eye sight. Even mental capacity.”

“Sure it’s easy some dude gave him a purple heart and I can respect that but that doesn’t mean other veterans and their families see his comments as a matter of being funny,” Shaker continued. “If he wanted one that badly they cost about $35 at Amazon or any Army Navy store.”

Conservative writer and one-time speculative independent candidate for president David French, who is also an Iraq War veteran and Bronze Star recipient, had a more cynical take on Trump’s comments. He suggested that Mr. Trump was not aware of what it meant to earn the Purple Heart.

Trump’s comments about the Purple Heart follow a controversy that emerged over the weekend in which Mr. Trump criticized the Muslim parents of a decorated American soldier that was killed in Iraq after they spoke at the Democratic National Convention and condemned Mr. Trump’s negative rhetoric concerning Muslim-Americans.

For a candidate who repeatedly assures voters that he’ll take care of veterans and who brags about all the money he’s raised for veterans’ groups, comments like those made Tuesday run the risk of alienating veterans and voters who strongly support them.

In the 2008 presidential election, 54% of veterans and those that were currently serving in the military at the time voted for the Republican candidate. In 2012, 59% of those voters went to the Republican ticket.

Donald Trump is currently under-performing in the polls with demographics Republican candidates historically need to win. He’s on track to be the first Republican candidate to lose white college graduates in 60 years. His favorability is underwater with women, with Latino voters, and he is losing Catholics. He cannot expect to win the election if he loses veterans and active military personnel as well.

So what can he do to improve his standing with veterans? Shaker suggested that Mr. Trump should use a little more tact when he speaks rather than always trying to be the entertainer and the showman. “If I was in the position to actually say something, I would say to use a little more tact when referring to something like the Purple Heart, especially so carelessly,” he told Conservative Review.

“He may see it as funny and so many his supporters in that room,” he added. “But the guy in the wheelchair probably doesn’t think it’s funny.” (For more from the author of “‘Careless’ Purple Heart Remarks Put Trump in Hot Water With Veterans” please click HERE)

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