Blumenthal Condemns Trump's Insults Against Veterans: "Donald Trump Does Not Speak for America"

[WASHINGTON, DC] – During a speech on the U.S. Senate Floor today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) strongly denounced President Donald Trump’s remarks against America’s veterans and fallen heroes. The senator also spoke about his support for a resolution sponsored by combat veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) honoring the service and sacrifice of members of the U.S. Armed Forces and veterans while condemning Donald Trump’s disgraceful denigration of military service, prisoners of war, and Gold Star Families. Earlier in the day, Blumenthal shared similar remarks during a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on veterans’ mental health care.

“Donald Trump does not speak for America. When he called those brave heroes who lay down their lives ‘suckers’ or ‘losers,’ my first reaction was disbelief. And then in an instant, it was totally to believe that he said it because it was so much in character for Donald Trump. For him it is all about Donald Trump. If somebody else can serve and take his place without sacrifice on his part, so much the better. But Donald Trump does not speak for the America that I know and love and who have given of themselves or risked their lives,” said Blumenthal on the Senate Floor.

Blumenthal recounted the bravery and sacrifice of the Marines who served at Belleau Wood and other battles, saying: “That battle was one of hundreds, thousands of battles where soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines have distinguished themselves with uncommon valor. And for every Belleau Wood, there are others for each of those services. None of them fought by ‘suckers’ or ‘losers.’”

Reflecting on the heavy toll invisible wounds of war can take on servicemembers and veterans, Blumenthal said: “The cost of war is unspeakably high, and we know that from our own work on the Armed Services Committee, on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. I have just come from a hearing of the Veterans' Affairs Committee where we were discussing the problem of veteran suicide - twenty, every day, of our heroes take their own lives. And yet we here in this body have failed to provide effective solutions to those invisible wounds that caused those deaths. That is a national disgrace.”

During the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on legislation to improve veterans’ mental health care earlier in the day, the senator stressed the need for swift bipartisan passage of a comprehensive veterans’ mental health care and suicide prevention bill, the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act. The legislation passed the Senate unanimously last month and awaits passage in the House. The bill includes a provision authored by Blumenthal to expand the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) suicide prevention media outreach campaigns.

The Committee’s hearing came one day before World Suicide Prevention Day. Blumenthal emphasized that “all of us know someone who has been affected” by suicide, recounting Connecticut’s Staff Sergeant Tyler Michael Reeb, who served as a sniper on various tours in the Marine Corps and took his own life in October of last year.

The video of Blumenthal’s remarks on the Senate Floor can be found here and the video of his remarks at today’s Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing can be found here.

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