Trump’s Medal of Honor comments mark latest veteran controversy

Former President Trump has once again found himself at the center of a firestorm over his comments about veterans after he compared a civilian award favorably to the Medal of Honor.

Trump on Thursday spoke at an event at his Bedminster, N.J., property focused on combating antisemitism, which was also attended by GOP megadonor Miriam Adelson. During his remarks, Trump spoke about giving Adelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 2018.

“That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian. It’s the equivalent of the congressional Medal of Honor, but civilian version,” Trump told attendees. 

“It’s actually much better, because everyone who gets the congressional Medal of Honor, that’s soldiers, they’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead. She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman,” Trump said with a chuckle, eliciting applause from the crowd. “And they’re rated equal.”

A clip of Trump’s comments quickly ricocheted around social media, with Democrats and Harris quickly seizing on the remarks to attack the former president’s views on veterans and wounded Americans. 

“For him to insult Medal of Honor recipients, just as he has previously attacked Gold Star families, mocked prisoners of war, and referred to those who lost their lives in service to our country as ‘suckers’ and ‘losers,’ should remind all Americans that we owe it to our service members, our country, and our future to make sure Donald Trump is never our nation’s commander in chief again,” Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who served as a captain in the Navy, posted on social media that Trump “has no idea how to put others before himself.”

“When the Medal of Honor is awarded posthumously, it’s often to Americans who have thrown themselves on grenades or braved enemy fire — heroes who have paid the ultimate price to save others,” he posted on the social platform X.

Trump’s campaign rushed to his defense in the face of criticism. His running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), was asked about the backlash during a campaign stop in Wisconsin to tout the support of local law enforcement and argued Trump was not attempting to denigrate veterans.

“I’ve seen him give out a number of awards and commendations to military veterans, and of course I myself am a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq war,” Vance said. 

“This is a guy who loves our veterans and who honors our veterans. I don’t think him complimenting and saying a nice word about a person who received a Medal of Freedom is in any way denigrating those who receive military honors,” he continued. “They are two different awards. And I think the president was saying some nice things about a person he liked, and that’s a totally reasonable thing to do.”

A Trump campaign spokesperson argued Harris and her campaign were in no position to be critical, citing the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, during which 13 American troops were killed.

“Kamala bragged of being the last one in the room with Biden as they set in motion our disastrous retreat from Afghanistan. It’s outrageous that she and her failing campaign have the audacity to claim concern for service men and women when Kamala abandoned them just a few years ago,” senior campaign adviser Brian Hughes said in a statement, adding the former president would hold a ceremony to honor the fallen troops.

Trump frequently boasts that he rebuilt the military while he was in office and argues the country is weaker and less respected on the world stage with President Biden in charge. But he has also sparked multiple controversies over his comments about veterans.

During his 2016 campaign, Trump mocked the late Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) time as a prisoner of war and sparred with the Gold Star family of an Army captain killed in Iraq.

While in office, Trump faced criticism for a phone call with the mother of a U.S. soldier killed in Niger. His former chief of staff, John Kelly, has also confirmed a report from The Atlantic that Trump questioned why he should visit a cemetery in France when it was filled with “losers.” Trump has denied making those comments.

The Trump campaign has sought to go on offense on the issue of military service, attacking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), the Democratic vice presidential nominee, for resigning from the National Guard months before his unit was deployed overseas.

Family members of some of those killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan spoke at last month’s Republican National Convention to criticize the Biden White House and argue the current administration has not properly honored those who died.