Convicted felon Donald Trump saved his lowest-effort ramblings for another disgraceful Veterans Day event at Arlington National Cemetery. He almost incoherently praised Green Beret Ryan Hendrickson—who returned to action after nearly losing his leg to an improvised explosive device—and stumbled through discussing the problems of homelessness among veterans.
“In 2010, Green Beret Ryan Hendrickson was leading his team through a Taliban-held village in Afghanistan at three in the morning when he was stepped on by enemy—I mean, he was—the enemy was all over,” Trump veered through his speech. “He made the mistake, a mistake that people understood when they were in the battles, jungles. He stepped on enemy explosives, a lot of them.”
Trump also spoke unironically about being “committed to ending the veterans’ homely—homelessness,” calling it a “horrible plague” that his administration was “working very hard on.” Beyond the Trump administration’s general callousness toward homelessness, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ mental-health workforce numbers have plummeted, leaving veterans with less access to much-needed support. Coupled with cuts to programs aimed at making homeownership more attainable for veterans, these actions expose the hollowness of Trump’s half-baked claims.
“America did not start a war with Iran,” the draft-dodging Trump lied to a disbelieving audience. Every Veterans Day under a Trump regime is defined by his clear disdain for those who have served the country in a way he himself never could.
