Ahead of Veterans Day, DNC spokesperson Sarafina Chitika released the following statement: 

“The American people won’t forget that Donald Trump and 2024 Republicans would rather push anti-abortion extremism and side with Tommy Tuberville’s blockade of military promotions than prioritize our troops. MAGA presidential candidates doubling down in support of Tuberville is nothing new — they each  have yearslong track records of putting their extreme agendas in the way of supporting our veterans. Thankfully, President Biden has always stood with America’s servicemembers, and his historic PACT Act is providing the largest expansion of VA healthcare and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits in decades.”

Trump has campaigned alongside and continues to cheer on anti-abortion extremist Senator Tommy Tuberville, who’s dragged out his military blockade for months, holding up hundreds of military promotions and nominations. 

Alabama Today: “U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville to introduce President Donald Trump in Montgomery on Friday”

AL.com: “Former President Donald Trump praised Tuberville over the votes on Truth Social: ‘BIG WIN FOR TOMMY. Unlike McConnell and his group of automatic Democrat YES VOTES, Tommy T is willing to take on the Radical Left Fascists & Thugs that are destroying our Country. What a difference!’”

Trump outsourced essential care for veterans to his ultra-wealthy Mar-a-Lago friends who cared more about profiting off the backs of service members in need than supporting them. And then he tried to take credit for Obama’s work in improving veteran care. 

Military Times: “Congressional investigators found evidence that the three men helped steer policy decisions on VA medical records issues and discussed ways to potentially monetize VA patient health data. Along with emails to senior VA staff, the trio also frequently contacted senior White House staff on VA policy issues and briefed the president on their proposals, all without any official federal role.”

Associated Press: “Boastful on the occasion of Memorial Day, President Donald Trump and his Veterans Affairs secretary are claiming full credit for health care improvements that were underway before they took office. Trump said he passed a private-sector health care program, Veterans Choice, after failed attempts by past presidents for the last ‘45 years.’ That’s not true. The Choice program, which allows veterans to see doctors outside the government-run VA system at taxpayer expense, was first passed in 2014 under President Barack Obama.”

Trump had the audacity to lambast and hurl insults at Americans who’ve sacrificed everything to serve our country. 

Axios: “Former President Trump didn’t want to visit a cemetery near Paris for Americans who fought and died in World War I because it was filled with ‘suckers’ and ‘losers,’ John Kelly, his longest-serving chief of staff, said in a statement to CNN on Monday.”

Washington Post: “They 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.’”

Washington Post: “Before they could debate the Iran deal, Trump erupted to revive another frequent complaint: the war in Afghanistan, which was now America’s longest war. He demanded an explanation for why the United States hadn’t won in Afghanistan yet, now 16 years after the nation began fighting there in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 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.’”

The Atlantic: “When President Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision, saying that ‘the helicopter couldn’t fly’ and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true. 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, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, 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.”

DeSantis continues to cheer on Tuberville for his shameful military blockade that is jeopardizing military readiness — and as a congressman, DeSantis refused to vote in favor of giving more funding to the VA and insisted their problems were due to mismanagement.

Washington Examiner: “‘They have been very well-funded,’ said Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla. DeSantis argued that the problems occur when the VA diverts its funding to bureaucracy and away from veterans’ actual needs.”

Mika Brzezinski: “Do you think that Senator Tuberville should lift the blockade that he’s put on military promotions?”

DeSantis: “No.”

Haley continues to criticize the Department of Defense amid Tuberville’s military blockade, has railed against essential reproductive care for service members, and insulted the American military in favor of China’s. 

HuffPost: “GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley took aim at the Defense Department for beginning a policy at the center of Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) hold on 300-plus military promotions in the Senate.”

Haley: “We’ve gotta focus on the military aspect. Look at the fact that [China], they have a stronger military. We need to strengthen our military.”

Tim Scott voted against the PACT Act that is providing veterans with critical care, and he continues to double down on supporting Tuberville’s shameful promotion blockade.

Post and Courier: “Burn pits bill stalls in Senate as Tim Scott joins surprise effort to block it”

The Messenger: “Tim Scott Says Tuberville Holding Up Military Promotions ‘Not Necessarily a Bad Thing’”

Brian Kilmeade: “So you’re with Tuberville?”

Tim Scott: “He is right on his issue.”

Vivek Ramaswamy has lined up behind Tuberville’s shameful military blockade, and he baselessly spews misinformation and hurls insults about our military.

Washington Examiner: “Vivek Ramaswamy becomes latest GOP presidential candidate to back Tuberville military hold”

Ramaswamy: “On a broader set of grounds, it’s justified, where we have people put in charge of our military in positions of authority that are fundamentally ill-equipped to lead this nation forward.”

New York Times: “WHAT MR. RAMASWAMY SAID ‘Much of our military defense spending in the last several decades has not actually gone to national defense.’ — in an interview on the Fox Business Network in August

“False. A spokeswoman for Mr. Ramaswamy said he was comparing military aid to foreign countries and ‘homeland defense.’ But the amount the United States has spent on security assistance pales in comparison to general military spending and homeland security spending. According to the federal government’s foreign assistance portal, military aid to other countries ranged from $6 billion to $23 billion annually from the fiscal years 2000 to 2022, peaking in the fiscal years 2011 and 2012 when aid to Afghanistan alone topped $10 billion a year.”

Chris Christie repeatedly neglected veterans as governor of New Jersey, and the state unemployment rate among veterans skyrocketed under his watch.

NBC New York: “Christie: No Regret for Calling War Vet an ‘Idiot’”

Christie: “We cut all of this spending in the state in every state department, David, every state department. From environmental protection, to military and veterans affairs, all the way through had to sustain a cut.”

Star-Ledger: “The number released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics spoke for itself: New Jersey’s veterans had an unemployment rate of 7.9 percent in 2014, which is the second worst in the country.”