“President Trump’s treatment of [...] Americans killed in action is deeply troubling, and leads veterans like me to question his fitness to lead our nation.”

“I am dismayed that Senator Collins refuses to comment on Trump’s documented disrespect to America’s fallen heroes”

Following revelations that Donald Trump called Americans we lost at war “suckers” and “losers,” Mainers are speaking out about Trump’s disrespect toward veterans and questioning his “fitness to lead our nation.” Letter writers to papers across the state have described the comments as a “new low” for Trump and are “dismayed” at  Senator Susan Collins’ silence.

While Collins and her Republican colleagues refuse to hold Trump accountable for disrespecting our military, it's clear that Mainers are ready to hold both Collins and Trump accountable this November.

Portland Press Herald: Mark Goettel: Trump’s treatment of military families, veterans shows disrespect

President Trump’s treatment of military families, veterans, prisoners of war and Americans killed in action is deeply troubling, and leads veterans like me to question his fitness to lead our nation.

Bangor Daily News: Nancy Nadzo: Not presidential or unifying

I remember when Trump called John McCain a “loser,” and “not a war hero” because he was captured in Vietnam while in the Navy. I heard Trump say it, as did millions of viewers, so this newest and additional confirmation of Trump’s contempt for the military — other than to use it to create photo ops — is not new, and to me is surely accurate.

Penobscot Bay Pilot: Tim Hughes: Dismayed by Susan Collins’ refusal to comment

I am dismayed that Senator Collins refuses to comment on Trump’s documented disrespect to America’s fallen heroes and his admitted lying to the American people about the dangers of the Coronavirus.

Portland Press Herald: Nancy Hasenfus: Trump comments on war dead a new low

When I think of the people I knew who died in the Vietnam War and the uncle I never got to meet because he died in the Pacific Theater in the Second World War, the president’s comments about our war dead and captured soldiers felt like an arrow through my heart [...] America, please awaken and banish this current president. Now I must pause until my heart recovers.

Free Press: Nigel Calder: Suckers and Losers

My father shipped out to the Mediterranean theater. He was taken prisoner in an abortive allied invasion of Greece. I guess Donald Trump would not have liked my father for allowing himself to be captured and for failing in his escape attempt, wounded and with a piece of shrapnel in his back. [...] Without “suckers” and “losers” the very foundations of democracy will not survive.

Lewiston Sun Journal: Paul Baribault: Trump not a good role model

President Trump didn’t receive my vote in 2016 because I felt he would not be a good role model, for kids especially. That fear has proven right, I feel. And, as though more proof were needed, recently we learned of private comments Trump made at foreign military occasions in 2018 [...] referring to American soldiers and Marines, memorialized in French cemeteries, as “suckers and losers.”

Times Record: Glenn Michaels: Collins a “sucker,” must join Trump as “loser” in November

After Friday’s revelation about Trump’s unimaginable, inexplicable and inhuman comments about veterans (serving, retired, wounded and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice), again, there was silence, not the uncontainable rage of a patriot. [...] Sen. Collins’ silence has been deafening.

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