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After the wife of Sgt. La David Johnson confirmed Monday morning that she was indeed upset by Donald Trump's phone call to her and his inability to remember her husband's name, Trump immediately took to Twitter to say Myeshia Johnson was lying. Apparently nothing is “sacred”—to use Chief of Staff John Kelly’s word. Trump relentlessly attacked Congresswoman Frederica Wilson as a liar, and now that Johnson corroborated Wilson’s version of events as “100 percent correct,” he’s turned his fire directly on the pregnant grieving widow.
On Monday afternoon, Florida Rep. Francis Rooney had three chances (video below) in an appearance with MSNBC host Steve Kornacki to say the president’s actions were completely inappropriate, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Here’s the first installment of Rooney’s profile in cowardice:
Kornacki: Just hours ago this morning, [Trump] chose to go on Twitter and tell the world, everybody sees this message, to dispute the story that sergeant Johnson's widow was telling. Do you think that's a presidential action on his part?
Rooney: Well, I know -- I'm sure it was a terribly emotional situation for the president to have to call the family of this poor young man whose life was taken from him. If I were him and just heard General Kelly tell me about his son and -- I would probably use some of the words general Kelly said, too.
So Rooney’s first response to Trump attacking the widow of a fallen soldier was to sympathize with Trump and then make excuses for him. Kornacki gives it another shot, making it crystal clear that he’s asking about Trump contradicting a woman whose husband just lost his life in service of this country.
Kornacki: This was a direct, specific engagement—a direct, specific response from the president of the United States, to a widow, to a widow of a fallen soldier. […] I can tell you, I can’t think of an example of when a president of the United States directly contesting the version of events told by a family member, a grieving family member, of a fallen soldier. Do you consider that an acceptable thing for him to be doing?
Rooney: Well, there seems to be a difference of opinion of the tonality with which the words were delivered, and I can't comment on what that would be. The president says it was fine and he was shocked that there was criticism. So he evidently is pretty irritated that there was criticism over using words that General Kelly had suggested.
Good god—again with the Trump sympathy. Yes, Trump is “shocked” and “irritated”—it must terribly vexing for him to find out that other people don’t think he’s as great as he thinks he is. In fact, the notion that there is any version of events other than his own must be simply mind-blowing, as it appears to be for Rooney too. Because Rooney still hasn’t gotten around to Trump’s abhorrent conduct or the notion that anyone besides Trump matters.
Kornacki: I'll try one more time. [...] A lot of people are saying, look the thing to do if you’re president of the United States and a family member, a widow, any direct family member of a fallen family has criticism of you—has something negative to say about your behavior, your policy, whatever—is not to say anything. That the president owes that to the families of fallen soldiers. Do you share that view or do you think, no, this is fair game.
Rooney: I think it's appropriate and necessary to offer condolences to this family who had such a grievous loss. And If there was a misunderstanding it might not be a bad idea to continue to make sure that these people realize that the government of the United States shares their pain and thanks this young man for his service to his country.
Finally Rooney remembers there’s someone besides Trump and Kelly in this equation—the woman who actually lost her husband and is now pregnant with his child. Yes, her—Myeshia Johnson. She counts too, finally.
But apparently not enough for Rooney to actually say what he should have said immediately following Kornacki’s first question: It’s never presidential to attack a member of a Gold Star family. Never. And the White House should absolutely apologize to a woman who has made a greater sacrifice in defense of this country than most Americans will ever make.
It’s beyond disgraceful that Rooney had three tries to get that right and the best he could do was to finally say that “it might not be a bad idea” to contact the Johnson family again and make certain they know the U.S. government appreciates their sacrifice. Watch Rooney’s profile in cowardice: