On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign reignited a debunked accusation against former President Donald Trump, alleging without evidence that Trump referred to military veterans as “suckers” and “losers.” This claim, originally published by The Atlantic in 2020, has been debunked by fact-checkers and multiple staffers who were present with Trump that day.
“Four years ago today, The Atlantic reported that Donald Trump called fallen American service members ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’ and refused to visit their graves. This was later confirmed by a Fox News reporter and Trump’s former Chief of Staff and retired four-star general John Kelly,” Kamala HQ posted on X.
Trump has consistently denied the accusations made by John Kelly, who claimed that Trump canceled a 2018 visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris because he didn’t see the importance of honoring U.S. military members killed in war. Kelly, who spoke to the magazine after being fired from the administration, alleged that Trump called the fallen veterans “suckers” and “losers.”
However, the allegations have been widely debunked by over a dozen former Trump staffers who accompanied him that day. Additionally, fact-checking sites, including Snopes, have been unable to verify the claims. The original report in The Atlantic relied on anonymous sources, and Snopes found no concrete evidence to support the accusations.
The Harris campaign may be attempting to regain support among veterans after Gold Star families of the 13 servicemembers killed during the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal criticized her over the weekend for not personally acknowledging their loved ones’ deaths.
The families expressed outrage that Harris called the operation a “success” and said she had never reached out to offer condolences. They urged Americans to vote for Trump in November, stating that Harris is “unfit” to be president.
Trump addressed these allegations in a recent interview with former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan, describing them as a “made-up story.”
“It was made up by a magazine, and I think it was ‘The Atlantic,’ which is a radical left magazine, and as soon as I heard it, I said, ‘That’s a terrible thing,'” Trump explained.
“And you don’t get rid of it. They make these things up and keep using them; the opposing side knows it’s false,” Trump continued. “I had twenty-six people who said it never happened. Who would say it?”