President Donald Trump is "nothing but a draft-dodging coward who can't even keep the secrets of this nation" and would face serious trouble for his actions if he was a rank-and-file member of the military, a furious Sen. Tammy Duckworth said Thursday about his comments on the coronavirus and other issues to journalist Bob Woodward.
"I cannot believe that any president of the United States would do this," the Illinois Democrat told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell. "For him to have been out there telling these lies — because that's what they are, lies — at a time when he knew, he knew, in his own words, that this pandemic was at least five times deadlier than the normal flu."
Duckworth's comments came in response to Trump telling Woodward that he knew the coronavirus was a serious issue, but that he downplayed it so he wouldn't cause panic in the United States.
She said she is also furious that Trump was telling people not to wear masks and that he was saying "the kids can't catch it."
"I have two little girls myself," said Duckworth. "It's more than dereliction of duty. I just cannot imagine that anyone with good conscience would do that, let alone the leader of our nation."
Duckworth was also angry over Trump's actions concerning military leaders, as depicted by Woodward, as well as the report in The Atlantic, which said the president called wounded and killed service members "losers" and "suckers."
The senator, an Army veteran, lost both of her legs during a 2004 attack on the Black Hawk aircraft she was flying in Iraq.
"Apparently I too am a loser and sucker in Trump's book," she said. "But that's good company to be in, with men and women who laid down their lives for this nation, who were willing to serve something greater than themselves ... our men and women in uniform are the greatest, most noble people, who live by codes of conduct and values that this president can't even imagine. He calls people cowards when he himself is the coward."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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