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A sitting Member of Congress was sitting in a limousine, “invited” to listen on a speakerphone as President Trump placed a condolence call to grieving widow, whose husband was killed in the line of duty. This happened a day after the media blasted Trump for not placing the call, and the president’s unforced error of attempting to cite other presidents who he claimed didn’t make calls.
Gen. John Kelly then went before the press, emotional, to talk about his own son, a Marine 2LT who was killed in Afghanistan. He spoke about how he advised the president to not make condolence calls, because if you’re not in uniform, you can’t possibly know. But he “instructed” Trump on what he might say. The president took the general’s advice.
The media was ready to pounce, and Democrat Rep. Frederica Wilson was listening in, unbeknownst to Trump. If this isn’t a setup, then nothing is. Wilson is not a friend to the military, she’s not a friend to veterans. She exploited the situation to get in the news, and the media was complicit.
It wasn’t a call that was listened to in secret! It was on speakerphone. I don’t get this line of argument. https://t.co/hQo7b0WV3p
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) October 20, 2017
It was a secret to Trump, who had no idea it was on speaker, in a limo, with a Member of Congress listening in. Wrong on so many levels. https://t.co/qTv3ShPcRr
— Steve Berman (@stevengberman) October 20, 2017
Now the media attacks Gen. Kelly, as if his own personal loss, and his now freshly-opened wound are less important than being “right” about timelines and Trump’s response to military deaths.
These are some of the same people who supported Bowe Bergdahl, who recently pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. They will do anything to advance their cause of hurting Trump’s presidency. They will do anything to make themselves look righteous. But they’re really engaging in the worst, most coldhearted behavior in using a widow’s grief for their political purposes.
Shame on them.
Reports
Reporters Are Attacking General John Kelly For Not Attacking Donald Trump | Erick Erickson, The Resurgent
General Kelly took serious issue with reporters buying Congresswoman Wilson’s story that the President had disrespectfully addressed the widow of a fallen soldier. General Kelly explained that the President was not being disrespectful, but was trying to relay to the widow what General Kelly had relayed to the President. The soldier knew the risks and was doing the job he loved, but it did not make it any easier losing him.
It should not be a controversial statement and is not a disrespectful statement, but in understandably raw emotions, a congresswoman used it to politicize the death.
Kelly is right and the reporters are wrong. Naturally, instead of any introspection, the reporters are attacking General Kelly now.
A timeline of the White House after the Niger raid – CNNPolitics
Washington (CNN)How four US service members were killed in Niger — and President Donald Trump’s response to the attack — has left the federal government searching for answers.
Reactions
John Kelly lamenting days when women were held sacred while launching an attack on an outspoken congresswoman really sums the whole thing up
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) October 19, 2017
General Kelly flat out lied about Congresswoman Wilson.
He didn’t “get the facts wrong.” He told a big ass lie.https://t.co/z3dimTzMyw
— Shaun King (@shaunking) October 20, 2017
I keep telling y'all about John Kelly. He signed up to make Trump's craziness look less crazy. That make Kelly himself VERY dangerous…
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) October 19, 2017
.@Johnny_Joey: "I believe in [John Kelly's] integrity far before any politician in this crazy issue." pic.twitter.com/EIyt5UzeIk
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 20, 2017
Rep. Frederica Wilson says John Kelly lied about her in the White House briefing: "How dare he." https://t.co/4lRFzYkXP3
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 20, 2017
General Kelly confirmed what Frederica Wilson said. Trump lied about conversation with family of Sgt. La David Johnson. #IBelieveFrederica pic.twitter.com/lH5YDH6wJi
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) October 20, 2017
John Kelly must be a bigot. You can tell because of his ancestry, religion, and place of birth https://t.co/S6328SFU6s
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) October 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/921242417277280256
And of course…in 2014, Reid called the Bergdahl story “right-wing crack.”
The Bowe Bergdahl Story Is Right-Wing Crack http://t.co/thDjYVrUk3 via @mtomasky @thedailybeast
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) June 4, 2014
Both POTUS and Kelly attacking Congresswoman Wilson for listening to call. But it was Myeshia Johnson’s decision to have her there.
— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) October 20, 2017
It was inappropriate for her to listen…invited or not. https://t.co/N1VlhqkKfn
— Steve Berman (@stevengberman) October 20, 2017
Final thoughts
It doesn’t matter if Rep. Wilson was invited. It was inappropriate for her to listen in on a speakerphone call with the president without announcing herself. This is especially true given that the call itself was anticipated by the press. I’m certain Gen. Kelly’s emotions were real, and that it took a few hours walking amongst the honored dead at Arlington for him to collect his thoughts.
But the politics of cynical media spin and liberal messaging give no quarter to anyone defending Trump. CNN is now attacking Trump and Kelly because the president didn’t tweet about the attack in Niger. If he had tweeted, they’d be outraged that he did. They were outraged that he didn’t call the widow, and when he did, they were outraged at what he said. Although his remarks were exactly in line advice from his Chief of Staff, a Marine general and Gold Star parent, the press would rather attack Kelly than admit they are wrong.
Rep. Wilson would rather attack Kelly than admit she might have been wrong.
The level of hubris and false, smug self-righteousness is sickening. The media and the left should hang its head in shame.
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Steve Berman – the more you have defended Trump using spurious and Trumpian logic and talking points, the more sympathy I’m starting to have for the Press & the Democrat positions.
You are doing Federalist and the Federalist Party a LOT of damage by your naked Trump-support and Trump-defense articles in varisou publications recently.
I was once a fervent supporter of the Federalist Party, recognizing that BOTH Democrat and Republicans had become two sides of the same corrupt, anti-liberty coin, but your recent articles are causing me to rethink my position and (despising what Trump has done to the Republican party), am seriously reconsidering vogint Democrat against BOTH Republican and Federalist Parties that seem to be merging into one large anti-American force under Trump.