Biden chokes up when talking about Beau and Trump’s comments about the military

PITTSBURGH — President Joe Biden choked up Wednesday when talking about his family members’ military service and former President Donald Trump’s derogatory comments about the military.

“They asked [Trump] to visit American graves. He said no.’ He wouldn’t do that. Because they were all ‘suckers’ and ‘losers,’” Biden told a crowd of union workers. “I am not making this up. The team that was with him recognizes this today. Suckers and losers.

He paused for a moment and added, “This man does not deserve to have been commander in chief for long. my son, my uncle.” Beau Biden and Ambrose Finnegan served in the military before Trump took office.

Biden’s comments referred to Trump’s 2018 trip to Paris for the centennial of the end of World War I, when he refused to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and reportedly called the Marines who died in Belleau Wood “suckers” and the fallen soldiers in the US cemetery. “losers”.

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly confirmed last year that Trump made the comments in private, which The Atlantic first reported.

In response to a request for comment, the Trump campaign denied that Trump made the comments cited by Biden.

“Joe Biden is repeating a tired old lie about President Trump to deflect from the fact that he is the weakest commander in chief in history,” national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “When President Trump returns to the White House, he will rebuild our military and restore peace once again.”

Biden has frequently cited Trump’s 2018 comments, but Wednesday was the first time he directly linked them to his son and uncle.

On Tuesday, Biden called Trump’s comments “offensive” during a campaign rally in his childhood hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, demonstrating a sense of anger toward Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

“He said those soldiers who gave their lives were… ‘suckers’ and ‘losers,'” Biden said. “Who the hell does he think he is?”

“These soldiers are heroes, just like every American who has served this nation,” Biden said, to loud applause.

Biden, who was in Pittsburgh for the second stop of a three-city tour of Pennsylvania, said he was reminded of Trump’s comments about the military while visiting a war memorial in Scranton.