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White House chief of staff John Kelly on Thursday said he was "stunned" by the uproar over Donald Trump's phone call to the grieving widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed earlier this month in Niger. Kelly then proceeded to scapegoat Congresswoman Frederica Wilson for violating the sacred trust of a president.
"It stuns me that a member of Congress would have listened in on that conversation," said Kelly, a former four-star Marine General whose son was killed in Afghanistan in 2010. "Absolutely stuns me. And I thought at least that was sacred."
Let's just start by acknowledging that Rep. Wilson is not the one who started this conversation. If Kelly is looking for the culprit, he can walk straight into the Oval Office, because it's Donald Trump who has turned patriotism into a political weapon. It was Trump who in trying to explain his failure to contact the families of four fallen soldiers fumbled his way into falsely accusing President Obama of never having called Gold Star families. It was Trump who dragged Kelly's son, Marine Second Lieutenant Robert Kelly, into the political spotlight by pointing out that Obama hadn't called Gen. Kelly following his son’s death. It was Trump who in trying to cover his butt following the blowback over his lies and politicization of the issue made the clumsy call to a grieving widow in which he relayed that her husband “knew what he was signing up for." It was Trump who then lied again, tweeting that Wilson had "totally fabricated" his unconscionable comments and said he had "proof" that she had done so.
Well, that "proof" dissolved into the exceedingly thin air occupying Trump's head and so the White House sent Gen. Kelly out to address America about a story their boss has stoked all week. We can only take that as confirmation that Wilson's initial characterization of what Trump said was 100 percent accurate.
For his part, Kelly explained from the White House podium that Trump, who had supposedly already been making these calls, asked Kelly what he should say when he reached out to these four families. Trump also asked him if President Obama had called him and he told Trump, no. Kelly then relayed what he told Trump about these phone calls with the clear intention of explaining the terribly mangled sentiments Trump eventually delivered. Kelly quoted the person who had informed him of his son's death in 2010, his close friend Gen. Joe Dunford.
He said, Kel, he was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. He knew what he was getting into by joining that 1 percent. He knew what the possibilities were, because we're at war. And when he died—and the four cases we're talking about Niger, my son's case in Afghanistan—when he died he was surrounded by the best men on this Earth: his friends. That's what the president tried to say to four families the other day. I was stunned at what I saw a member of Congress doing.
What's also stunning is what Kelly left unsaid. What about Trump lying about Obama's phone calls—did that violate a sacred trust? What about Trump using Kelly's son to deflect from his own failures—did that violate a sacred trust? What about Trump accusing Rep. Wilson of lying—did that violate a sacred trust? What about Trump insulting a Gold Star family during the campaign—did that violate a sacred trust? What about Trump turning this entire issue of fallen soldiers into a political weapon—did that violate a sacred trust?
Since Kelly just blamed this sad episode on Rep. Wilson, here's a bit of her backstory.
“He knew what he was signing up for, but I guess it hurts anyway.” This was according to Wilson, who late yesterday told The Post that she had overheard the call on a speakerphone while riding in a limousine with Johnson when Trump called, and that this exchange made the widow cry. [...]
Wilson said she had known the slain solder for a long time, noting that he had passed through the mentoring program for boys of color she founded in Miami in 1993. It’s called the 5,000 Role Models of Excellence Project. She said she had “practically raised” him. She added that there is also a scholarship fund bearing his name.
Gen. John Kelly has made untold sacrifices for this country—not only did he lose one son, he still has another who is serving in the military. His service and commitment to our country are to be commended. But it is simply not fair to blame the way this conversation about military service, Gold Star families, and paying the ultimate sacrifice has devolved on a congresswoman from Florida. That defies reason, given the way Donald Trump has conducted himself over the past week. He’s led this race to the bottom.