Trump honors only himself

On Aug. 26, presidential candidate Donald Trump laid a memorial wreath in Arlington National Cemetery to honor soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in the chaotic evacuation of Kabul in 2021. He called them heroes who gave all to their country. But what did he say about them in private?

The next day, National Public Radio reported a confrontation between Trump’s staff and an Arlington staffer trying to enforce a ban on political photos or other political uses of images on hallowed ground. The illicit images have since been posted on social media according to NPR. Reminds me of Trump’s notorious photo op holding a bible in 2020.

But it’s more than that incident. On more than one occasion, Trump is reputed to have called fallen soldiers suckers and losers. Remember how he belittled the late Sen. John McCain’s time as a POW in Vietnam. NPR reports that Trump recently mocked McCain’s arm mobility limitations from his POW years. McCain was more of a man than Trump will ever be. And unlike Trump, McCain gave his first loyalty to his country and the Constitution.

Recently Trump asserted that the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded at the president’s discretion, is more worthy than the Congressional Medal of Honor. Never mind that Trump totally cheapened the Presidential Medal of Freedom by giving it to cronies and a political mega donor.

Add all this to the very long list of reasons Trump should never be allowed back in the White House.

– Carole McWilliams, Bayfield