President Donald Trump should heed the advice of his Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly and refrain from calling family members of fallen soldiers, said Rep. Scott Taylor, R-Va.
"The notion that the president of the United States was calling the family with any intent to be callous or anything like that is ridiculous," Taylor, a former Navy SEAL, said Friday on CNN's "New Day."
"Gen. Kelly, I think, gave the president great advice when he said ‘It's probably best that you don't call the family,' because while we're talking about this, grieving families and sometimes grieving family members receive information very differently," Taylor, a former Navy SEAL, said in the "New Day" interview, according to The Hill.
The congressman added that no value could come from the war of words between Trump and Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., over reports that he made disrespectful comments in a call to a grieving widow.
"I feel horrible for this family … I think that we can generally agree that this is not helpful for anyone," Taylor said.
Wilson had said that Trump told the widow of Army Sgt. La David Johnson that Johnson "knew what he signed up for."
Other grieving families have related more positive experiences with Trump. On Friday, Natasha De Alencar said the condolence call she received from Trump in April was "a moment of niceness."
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