On Saturday, during a rally, President Trump rebuked Joe Biden for an ad referencing the infamous Atlantic magazine story that used anonymous sourcing to claim that he disparaged fallen American soldiers.
The Daily Wire reports:
“Pathetic Joe. He’s a pathetic human being to allow that to happen,” Trump said of the ad Biden’s campaign released last week.
“There’s nobody who loves our military, respects them more than me. There were 25 witnesses on the record that said it never happened,” Trump said, citing former and current staff members who said he never called dead soldiers “suckers” and “losers. “They’re a disgrace, but you know the good part? Trump said. “Now I can be really vicious. Once I saw that ad, I don’t have to be nice anymore.”
The president also claimed Biden, “doesn’t know he’s alive.” “Sleepy Joe Biden. You know where he is now? He’s in his damn basement again,” Trump said as the Nevada crowd of supporters laughed and cheered.
“Joe Biden cannot lead our country ’cause he doesn’t really believe in our country,” he said. “He is the worst candidate in the history of presidential politics.”
President Trump responds to Biden ad attacking him after Atlantic story: "You know the good part? Now I can be really vicious." pic.twitter.com/nOqxJ2tVOb
— The Hill (@thehill) September 13, 2020
This follows the campaign last week issuing a cease-and-desist letter to the Biden campaign that demanded that he stop airing the ad. The ad, according to the Federalist, “attributes quotes to Trump that 21 people who were present that day say never happened, displayed over footage of military men and women in uniform and military cemeteries. It concludes with a quote saying ‘If you don’t respect our troops, you can’t lead them.’”
Trump Campaign Senior Legal Adviser Jenna Ellis wrote:
“The Atlantic article and the False and Misleading Ad both rely upon statements allegedly made by anonymous sources who were directly contradicted on the record by twenty-one individuals present with President Trump that day. Additionally, the contemporary facts in the Secret Service record totally debunk this fake story.
“Mr. Biden and the Biden Campaign should immediately cease and desist using the False and Misleading Ad and issue a public apology to the millions of service members whose morale Mr. Biden is attempting to damage by posting the False and Misleading Ad in the first place. The False and Misleading Ad presents unsubstantiated quotes by President Trump allegedly made in connection with a canceled official visit to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France. As stated above, numerous individuals who were with President Trump have gone on the record denying that President Trump made any such statements.
“Given your inability to verify the anonymous statements and the unequivocal denials by identified individuals who confirm what the whole country already knows – that President Trump would never disparage the lives and scarifies made by our American Military Heroes and their families – and President Trump’s powerful record of supporting and honoring America’s veterans, we demand that Joe Biden and the Biden Campaign immediately cease and desist using the False and Misleading Ad. We also ask Twitter and Facebook to review and apply their community standards equally and fairly and remove entirely the False and Misleading Ad from their platforms.”
It is truly egregious of the Biden campaign to run ads on such a shoddy, slanderous story that has been so easily debunked. Trump should absolutely be as vicious as he needs to be.
