In response to JD Vance defending Donald Trump’s insulting comments about our nation’s veterans, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“Instead of standing up for America’s service members and veterans, JD Vance would rather stand behind Donald Trump, a man who has repeatedly insulted Americans who have bravely chosen to serve our country. Trump has referred to Americans who’ve chosen to serve our country as ‘suckers,’ ‘losers,’ ‘dopes,’ and ‘babies,’ and in office, he pushed to cut funding for veterans’ benefits. The Trump-Vance Project 2025 agenda would rob veterans and active duty troops of billions in benefits, and severely undermine the VA’s ability to get our veterans the care they deserve. America’s heroes in uniform deserve the very best, and voters will ensure they have it when they reject the Trump-Vance ticket in November.”

NEW: JD Vance said it is “totally reasonable” for Donald Trump to say the Medal of Freedom is “much better” than the Medal of Honor because the Medal of Honor goes to “soldiers” who are “in very bad shape” or “dead.”

Vance: “I don’t think him complimenting and saying a nice word about a person who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom is in any way denigrating those who received military honors. They’re two different awards, and I think the president was saying some nice things about a person that he liked, and that’s a totally reasonable thing to do.”

Trump: “That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian. It’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor… But [the] civilian version, it’s actually much better because everyone [who] gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead.”

MSNBC: “Donald Trump insults veterans yet again”

Newsweek: “Donald Trump’s Medal Of Honor Remarks Spark Anger From Veterans”

Trump has repeatedly disparaged our military: He’s called veterans “suckers” and “losers,” and attacked active-duty service members as “dopes and babies.”

The Atlantic: “Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead.

“Trump said, ‘Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.’ In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ for getting killed.”

New York Times: “Moreover, people familiar with Mr. Trump’s private conversations say he has long scorned those who served in Vietnam as being too dumb to have gotten out of it, as he did through a medical diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels. At other times, according to those familiar with the remarks, Mr. Trump has expressed bewilderment that people choose military service over making money.”

Washington Post: “Trump unleashed his disdain, calling Afghanistan a ‘loser war.’ That phrase hung in the air and disgusted not only the military leaders at the table but also the men and women in uniform sitting along the back wall behind their principals. They all were sworn to obey their commander in chief’s commands, and here he was calling the war they had been fighting a loser war. 

‘You’re all losers,’ Trump said. ‘You don’t know how to win anymore.’ …

“[Trump’s comments] stunned nearly everyone in the room, and some vowed that they would never repeat them. Indeed, they have not been reported until now. ‘I wouldn’t go to war with you people,’ Trump told the assembled brass. Addressing the room, the commander in chief barked, ‘You’re a bunch of dopes and babies.’”

The Hill: “President Trump on Wednesday minimized the injuries of several U.S. service members who suffered concussions during an Iranian missile attack on two Iraqi bases that house American personnel.”

The Trump-Vance ticket’s Project 2025 agenda would rip away benefits from veterans and active duty troops and undermine the VA’s ability to fulfill its mission.

Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership: “The VA’s Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) has assigned disability ratings to a growing number of health conditions over time; some are tenuously related or wholly unrelated to military service. The further growth in presumptive service-connected medical conditions pursued by Congress and Veteran Service Organizations, begun with Agent Orange and most recently for Burn Pits/Airborne Toxins, has led to historic increases in mandatory VBA spending in recent years. The VA has a time-phased plan to reassess the VASRD and its ratings for compensation, but this internal process can be slow and laborious, requires Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approvals, and can become politically charged both in Congress and with VSOs. The next Administration should explore how VASRD reviews could be accelerated with clearance from OMB to target significant cost savings from revising disability rating awards for future claimants while preserving them fully or partially for existing claimants.”

Raw Story: “Project 2025 will rob veterans and active duty troops of billions in benefits”

“Among other recommendations, the plan proposes eliminating concurrent eligibility for both service-related disability benefits and military retirement benefits…

“The plan also proposes to end enrollment in VA medical care for veterans in two low-priority groups to save an estimated $69 billion through 2032 and narrow eligibility for veterans disability by excluding disabilities that cannot be related to military service…

“Project 2025 also calls for privatizing the Department of Defense’s current TRICARE system offered to military families.”

Fulcrum: “Project 2025 focuses on conservative political goals and extensive outsourcing, risking politicizing the VA further and undermining its ability to serve veterans effectively.”

Axios: “This is undeniably a Trump-driven operation. The biggest tell: Johnny McEntee — one of Trump’s closest White House aides, and his most fervent internal loyalty enforcer — is a senior adviser to Project 2025. One of the most powerful architects is Stephen Miller, a top West Wing adviser for the Trump administration.”

The Week: “Many of Trump’s indicated plans for a second term fall in line with the Project 2025 outline.”

New York Times: “Roberts told me that he views Heritage’s role today as ‘institutionalizing Trumpism.’ This includes leading Project 2025, a transition blueprint that outlines a plan to consolidate power in the executive branch, dismantle federal agencies and recruit and vet government employees to free the next Republican president from a system that Roberts views as stacked against conservative power. The lesson of Trump’s first year in office, Roberts told me, is that ‘the Trump administration … simply got a slow start. And Heritage and our allies in Project 2025 believe that must never be repeated.’”

Vance stands by Trump, who repeatedly broke his promises to service members and veterans. As president, Trump proposed cuts to veterans’ benefits and left the Department of Veterans Affairs in turmoil after putting his wealthy MAGA allies at the helm.

ProPublica: “Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Buddies Tried to Get the VA to Sell Access to Veterans’ Medical Records”

“Former President Donald Trump empowered associates from his private club to pursue a plan for the Department of Veterans Affairs to monetize patient data, according to documents newly released by congressional investigators. As ProPublica first reported in 2018, a trio based at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort weighed in on policy and personnel decisions for the federal government’s second-largest agency, despite lacking any experience in the U.S. government or military. While previous reporting showed the trio had a hand in budgeting and contracting, their interest in turning patient data into a revenue stream was not previously known.”

Military Times: “Trump’s ‘Mar-a-Lago Three’ had unusual, improper access on vets policy issues, VA now says”

ProPublica: “The Mar-a-Lago Crowd spoke with VA officials daily, the documents show, reviewing all manner of policy and personnel decisions. They prodded the VA to start new programs, and officials traveled to Mar-a-Lago at taxpayer expense to hear their views. ‘Everyone has to go down and kiss the ring,’ a former administration official said.”

USA Today: “[President Donald Trump’s proposed budget plan] would also slash individual unemployment benefits for disabled veterans by more than $40.8 billion over 10 years.”

Military.com: “Elderly Vets Could Face Benefits Cut Under Trump Budget”

“Veterans Affairs Secretary Dr. David Shulkin defended Wednesday a proposal in President Donald Trump’s federal budget plan that would cut a benefit paying thousands of dollars annually to disabled elderly veterans.”