Posted on 10/24/2017 12:41:04 PM PDT by Pinkbell
Yep, Cindy Sheehan all over again.
The msm might want to ask the widow how she feels about her dear long time friend, Francisca, sending her husband on that mission. “Rep Frederica Wilson Wrote Legislation That Framed Lethal Mission of Sgt. Johnson” http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3598057/posts
So on Oct 4 we had 4 service members killed in Niger. 12 days later the press hounded Trump about why he hadn’t made an official statement about it. He said that he had written letters to the families of the fallen that were either sent out over the weekend or would be sent out that day (Mon, Oct 16) and that he planned to call the families. He said some Presidents have chosen not to call or write but he wanted to do both. When pressed later in the conference he said he didn’t know if Obama called some of the time or not; he could only go by what his generals told him (and later John Kelly said that Obama had NOT called him when his son was killed).
The media was outraged and Obama’s people called Trump nasty names. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-call-service-members-families_us_59e4f6ace4b0ca9f4839b525
By 12:06pm that day, Joy Reid tweeted that Trump had reached a new low by saying Obama didn’t call the families of fallen soldiers.
At 10:45am Eastern time the next day Frederica Wilson spoke on the floor of the US House to commend Johnson. Then Wilson tweeted a response to Reid’s tweet, saying that it wasn’t the worst Trump would do - adding that LaDavid Johnson was her constituent and linking to the C-Span clip of her speaking in Congress.
According to https://www.local10.com/video/trump-faces-controversy-as-us-army-sgt-la-david-johnsons-remains-return-to-miami it was known that Trump was scheduled to call Johnson that afternoon.
Trump called at 4:45pm Eastern time that same day (Tues, Oct 17), and by that time Wilson had flown to Miami and was with Myesha Johnson en route to meet her husband’s casket. By 11:03pm Eastern CNN had the breaking story of their pre-recorded phone call with Frederica Wilson, claiming that the call was so bad that she asked to speak on the phone with Trump to cuss him out.
Even before the Don Lemon CNN clip at 11:03pm, Wilson was interviewed by the local Miami CNN affiliate and made her claims. (see http://ktla.com/2017/10/17/trump-told-fallen-soldiers-widow-that-he-knew-what-he-signed-up-for-florida-congresswoman-says/ ). The timestamps on the postings aren’t clear on time zones so it’s hard to say exactly when Wilson first spoke to the media, but it seems likely that she spoke to the local CNN affiliate while they were there to cover the story of the body being flown in. In the local CNN article at https://www.local10.com/news/florida/miami-dade/remains-of-u-s-army-sgt-la-david-johnson-return-to-miami Wilson had obviously been interviewed. That was originally posted at 4:25pm and updated at 12:39pm the next day. 4:25pm is before the casket even arrived so I think the timestamps must be for a different time zone. For LA’s CNN affiliate to know that the local affiliate had interviewed Frederica Wilson before the Don Lemon broadcast, it must have been published before the update on the 18th, so the original posting must have had Wilson’s claims at “4:25” - whatever time zone that was. probably Pacific time, which would make the original posting maybe 8:25pm Eastern.
Within about 2 hours of Johnson’s body arriving in Miami. Most likely the press interviewed Wilson at the airport right after filming the arrival of the casket. Classy, eh?
This does seem like a set-up to me. These seem to be people who are looking for reasons to hate Trump, and when he indicated that he was going to call they sprung into action - as a response to Trump saying that Obama may not have called all the families - a fact Trump knew to be true because General Kelly had told him so. Trump gave notice a day ahead of time that he was going to call, and the media knew that the call was expected to be that afternoon.
What stands out to me, also, is that Wilson in her House speech and almost every one of the reporters all stumbled over LaDavid’s name. And we don’t even know the names of the other three. In the one media report they spoke to the brother of one of the fallen but they didn’t give the name of the brother or the name of the fallen. I guess names are only important if you’re reporting on something that hurts Trump.
This does seem like a set-up, and it is truly sad that the lives of all our fallen military personnel seem like cheap props for political purposes.
This was the transcript from the Oct 16th press conference where this all started. When you see the whole context Trump’s comments don’t seem as braggadocious/political as they were made to appear:
QUESTION: Why haven’t we heard anything from you so far about the soldiers that were killed in Niger and what do you have to say about (INAUDIBLE)?
TRUMP: I’ve written them personal letters. They’ve been sent or they’re going out tonight. But they were during the weekend. I will, at some point during the — the period of time call the parents and the families, because I have done that traditionally.
I felt very, very badly about that. I always feel bad. It’s the toughest — the toughest calls I have to make are the calls where this happens, soldiers are killed. It’s a very difficult thing. Now it gets to a point where, you know, you make four or five of them in one day, it’s a very, very tough day. For me that’s by far the toughest.
So the traditional way, if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls. A lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I am able to do it.
They have made the ultimate sacrifice. So generally I would say that I like to call. I’m going to be calling them. I want a little time to pass. I’m going to be calling them. I have, as you know, since I’ve been president, I have. But in addition, I actually wrote letters individually to the soldiers
we’re talking about and they’re going to be going out either today or tomorrow.
(CROSS TALK)
QUESTION: Why did it take so long (ph)?
(CROSS TALK)
....... (and then later>):
TRUMP: Peter. Go ahead, Peter.
QUESTION: Just a quick question. Earlier you said that President Obama never called the families of fallen soldiers. How can you make that claim?
TRUMP: I don’t know if he did. No, no, no. I was — I was told that he didn’t often. And a lot of presidents don’t. They write letters. I do — excuse me, Peter. I do a combination of both. Sometimes it’s a very difficult thing to do, but I do a combination of both. President Obama, I think probably did sometimes and maybe sometimes he didn’t. I don’t know. That’s what I was told. All I can do — all I can do is ask my generals. Other presidents did not call. They’d write letters. And some presidents didn’t do anything. But I like — I like the combination of — I like, when I can, the combination of a call and also a letter.
(CROSS TALK)
QUESTION: Mr. President, thank you.
I don’t disagree with you that they don’t like Trump. As I noted, the Congresswoman refused to even attend his Inauguration and was likely angry over Trump’s comments regarding Obama and phone calls which were still fresh. I think based on the comments of Kelly and Huckabee Sanders, Trump did say something along those lines with the best of intentions to connote his bravery and heroism. I think the Congresswoman assumed the worst and as opposed to comforting the widow and explaining the context or calling the President, she went to the press - which was wrong and likely politically motivated.
I guess my point is that the Congresswoman knew Trump would get hit in the media, and perception is everything. While conservatives/Trump supporters might brush this off, I look to the general public who hears these stories, and what they hear is that Trump hurt the feelings of a grieving widow. It doesn’t matter if you are correct in saying it was a set up, if it was a misunderstanding, etc. What matters is the perception out there.
Reaching out to this woman helps her in grieving, it looks good politically, and it may have ended the news cycle that he was cruel. What could the Congresswoman or widow say in an interview if Trump had reached out, clarified, and made a donation?
Frederica Wilson has known the Johnson family since the late La David Johnson was a child. Members of Johnson’s family attended the school named for Frederica Wilson, who in 1993 founded the 5000 Role Models of Excellence—a nonprofit that focuses on helping black boys become outstanding black men. La David Johnson was a Role Models alumnus. Both of his brothers participated in the program, including one who is training to be a firefighter. Miamians have come to recognize the boys in the program by their signature red neckties and impeccable manners. They are literal golden boys, who go on to become doctors and lawyers and leaders across Florida and the country.
“I mentored this young man from a little boy in elementary school through high school,” she told the ABC hosts, when challenged by Meghan McCain on why she released the details of that call, which Wilson added she did so simply because she was asked by reporters what Trump said. “We sent him to college… These are people that I have known since they were little children. His uncle went to my elementary school. I was his principal.”
That made sense to me why she was there. As far as the speaker, his aunt and uncle who raised him were also in the car listening in. I don't have a problem with the speaker.
I don't question Trump's motives. Trump wouldn't call her up to upset her. His intentions were to comfort, and his words were words intended to comfort and connote heroism and bravery. This is what I posted to someone else:
I don’t disagree with you that they don’t like Trump. As I noted, the Congresswoman refused to even attend his Inauguration and was likely angry over Trump’s comments regarding Obama and phone calls which were still fresh. I think based on the comments of Kelly and Huckabee Sanders, Trump did say something along those lines with the best of intentions to connote his bravery and heroism. I think the Congresswoman assumed the worst and as opposed to comforting the widow and explaining the context or calling the President, she went to the press - which was wrong and likely politically motivated.
I guess my point is that the Congresswoman knew Trump would get hit in the media, and perception is everything. While conservatives/Trump supporters might brush this off, I look to the general public who hears these stories, and what they hear is that Trump hurt the feelings of a grieving widow. It doesn’t matter if you are correct in saying it was a set up, if it was a misunderstanding, etc. What matters is the perception out there.
Reaching out to this woman helps her in grieving, it looks good politically, and it may have ended the news cycle that he was cruel. What could the Congresswoman or widow say in an interview if Trump had reached out, clarified, and made a donation?
The optics are what matters, and the optics would be good for Trump.
The whole lib world would have slapped it away and sneered “Trying to BUY forgiveness.” Trump has no choice but to fight them every step until he defeats them; which he will. The stunning news this evening that Hillary Clinton’s Campaign paid for the phony Russian Dossier, falsely accusing Trump of outrageous stuff in Moscow will be one more huge crack in the lib structure.
” Reaching out to this woman helps her in grieving, it looks good politically, and it may have ended the news cycle that he was cruel.” >>>
Trump knew the same as I did that it was the Black Widow who set this up and provided her gal pal, Crazy Wilson, with the dynamite to blow Trump up. Every step of the way, the Black Widow laid the tools for Wilson to use.
The widow provided the stage for this fuse to be lit, for the fireworks to go off, and light up the media world with their malicious, flaming attack against Trump.
The widow stayed silent, and let Crazy Wilson stalk every network to smear and slander Trump.
Why would Trump want to play stroke the kitty a second time, with the Black Widow? This fanged cat wasn’t going to be given a second opportunity to jack him around.
No one cares about the stinking backstory of Wilson and the Johnsons. The point is they were both equally TRUMP HATERS from the get-go, grifters, after money, and media applause from their like-minded communist friends and thrilled to take him down.
I do worry about the extent of your naivete and your over analyzing of their cute friendship. Trying to play around with your scenarios which are fine for little kiddies, but are deadly errors in a political fire fight to save our country.
Forgive me for being so blunt. Possibly you are very young or inexperienced in political combat.
Our country is at stake and Trump is not Mr. Rogers. There will be no apologies, or patty fingers played for the camera, or apple pie delivered to Trump’s enemies so it looks better politically. No, that is not someone we elected. Trump hits hard. Thanks be to God.
The go fund me was opened by Wilson’s 5000 role model non profit; guess who gets a cut of the 1 million raised so far?
I do however in this situation, wish Trump would have have given a more sensitive and profound statement that focused on the sacrifices and commitments of our military and their families. He doesn’t always have to come into the china shop like a bull.
Trump reacting like he did gave Wilson her 15 min of fame. She was a nobody, now she is on national news for weeks.
all just noise.
I agree that no matter what Trump said, the media would have had a bone to pick. However, Trump should have made a statement about the sacrifices of the military and their families. His statements gave Wilson her 15 min of fame and then Kelly gets hammered as a racist. This rep did grand-stand on the back of this dead soldier and Trump should have not allowed her to do so- by his there is a time and place for Trump to be Trump. The death of a soldier and phone call to the widow, was not the time.
Perhaps I have a different tactic. There are two ways to deal with this:
1) Deny it and try to fight back
2) Apologize if comments were misunderstood, clarify, make a comment about the heroism and bravery of our troops and make a donation - a high ground maneuver.
If he does number 2, he kills her entire argument. Her argument is that Trump was insensitive, didn’t care, and so forth. Trump comes out the next day, clarifies the statement, shows he is compassionate, and shows he cares - that all the reports and the Congresswoman’s remarks were a hullaballoo about nothing. It helps the widow, and Trump looks good. It ends the media story in a day.
I look at this in terms of the casual American out there who sees this story on the news and doesn’t follow it in depth. I think doing option two is going to appeal more to them and help Trump from a political standpoint a lot more than an 8 day feud culminating in the widow coming forth.
That’s my point. There are different ways of combat - one is taking a high ground. I think it’s just a win-win in all areas.
1) Denying it is the truth.
2) Apologizing for it is the untruth, a lie.
Trump was elected on his promise that when he gets hit, he hits back, and twice as hard. From that promise, he is disassembling the RINO camp and draining the swamp.
This widow and Whacky Wild Wilson are the swamp.
General Kelly and Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed Trump said something along those lines, but obviously the context the Congresswoman portrayed it in was false. He wasn’t being glib. She assigned a sinister meaning to his words. Now, I’ll give the widow the benefit of the doubt. She’s 24 years old, pregnant, has 2 kids, is grieving, and is in the car to pick up her husband’s remains (which she said they won’t let her see), and sometimes words can be misunderstood when you are speaking to someone you haven’t met over the phone states away - someone that you already don’t like. The Congresswoman could have cleared this up by explaining what those words mean or by contacting the President directly. He didn’t have to apologize, though, he just had to clarify. I think there’s an important distinction because he did absolutely nothing wrong in that call. His intentions were good, the meaning of the words just got misunderstood by the widow, imo.
I just saw a clip of Infowars out on the streets of NYC. The guy was interviewing a couple, and they brought up the widow’s interview and said she was crying. That’s what your average American is going to see. I just think it makes more sense from a practical standpoint to reach out to clarify the words, make a donation, and put the whole thing to bed immediately. By doing so, he looks good to the American people and prevents this 8 day feud. The Congresswoman wouldn’t have been able to say another word. She has gotten the attention she craves (rock star comments), and now General Kelly is being called a racist, a liar, the Congressional Black Caucus is after him, etc. All unnecessary with no political gain to boot.
There is a Twitter account called Trump Regrets. It’s people who voted for Trump that regret voting for him now. I go through the accounts to see if the people are genuine. Some are not. Some are just conservatives angry for a minute that aren’t going anywhere. Others are suspicious and questionable. However, some are legit. The people who regret voting for him now are the moderates/more liberal Republicans who voted for him but who he will need in the next election. He can’t afford to lose voters. It’s situations like this, for example, where I notice drops in the polls and Tweets where people say they regret voting for him. I want him to gain support, not lose it.
There are two ways to fight - sometimes it’s a fight in the mud like with Hillary (you have no choice). Othertimes, it’s by taking a higher ground.
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