Get the Facts: Biden claims Trump referred to deceased military members as ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’
Updated: 11:40 PM CDT Jun 27, 2024
In the first half of Thursday night’s CNN Presidential Debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Biden called back to a controversy from Trump’s presidency.Related video above: Take a look at CNN’s debate setup“I was recently in France for D-Day, and I spoke to all about those heroes that died. I went to the World War II cemetery — World War I cemetery he refused to go to,” Biden said during the debate, referring to Trump, who declined to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris when he was president in 2018. “He was standing with his four-star general and he told him, ‘I don’t want to go in there because they’re a bunch of losers and suckers.’ My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You’re the loser, you’re the sucker,” Biden said to Trump, referencing a comment Trump allegedly made during his presidency. According to an article published by The Atlantic in September 2020, Trump made this comment during a conversation with staff members on the morning of the visit. “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers,” the article says. The Atlantic article also says that on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 U.S. Marines who died at Belleau Wood as “suckers.”Trump has repeatedly denied he ever made those comments, including a denial in this evening’s debate, despite the New York Times and other media outlets corroborating the events. Retired four-star Marine General John F. Kelly, who was Trump’s White House chief of staff, also confirmed the remarks.
In the first half of Thursday night’s CNN Presidential Debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Biden called back to a controversy from Trump’s presidency.
Related video above: Take a look at CNN’s debate setup
“I was recently in France for D-Day, and I spoke to all about those heroes that died. I went to the World War II cemetery — World War I cemetery he refused to go to,” Biden said during the debate, referring to Trump, who declined to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris when he was president in 2018.
“He was standing with his four-star general and he told him, ‘I don’t want to go in there because they’re a bunch of losers and suckers.’ My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You’re the loser, you’re the sucker,” Biden said to Trump, referencing a comment Trump allegedly made during his presidency.
According to an article published by The Atlantic in September 2020, Trump made this comment during a conversation with staff members on the morning of the visit.
“Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers,” the article says.
The Atlantic article also says that on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 U.S. Marines who died at Belleau Wood as “suckers.”
Trump has repeatedly denied he ever made those comments, including a denial in this evening’s debate, despite the New York Times and other media outlets corroborating the events. Retired four-star Marine General John F. Kelly, who was Trump’s White House chief of staff, also confirmed the remarks.
