CNN and the rest of the mainstream media would have us believe that President Donald Trump called the widow of the late Sgt. La David Johnson to abuse her by telling her that her husband bore responsibility for his own death -
that "he knew what he signed up for," in the words of Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL), who was somehow present in a limousine when the call was taken on a speakerphone.
It is an entirely bizarre premise that could only be believed by those blinded by their hatred for Trump - including Wilson, who has been
pushing for Trump's impeachment.
Jake Tapper is among the conspiratorially-minded. That became clear during Wednesday's edition of CNN's
The Lead, in which he led the show with a recap of Trump's supposed history of "attacking Gold Star families," as the chyron read, beginning with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and continuing through the infamous Khizr Khan.
What Tapper conveniently failed to remember is that in each of these cases,
the families attacked Trump first in a nakedly political fashion. McCain
began the feud when called Trump supporters "crazies" in July 2015. Khan waved a Constitution at Trump from the rostrum at the Democratic National Convention. And now Johnson is being used by Democrats to attack Trump - turning what was, at worst, a misunderstanding into a political axe.
Comment: WH Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee told the press that Trump was
disgusted by the politicization of Johnson's death:
The Democratic representative has stuck by her account, despite repeated denials and rebukes from Trump. The president, she told CNN, is a "sick man" with "no sympathy," while also claiming he did not even know the late soldier's name because he referred to him as "her guy" while speaking with Mrs. Johnson.
Just because Trump called him "her guy" doesn't mean he didn't know his name, Huckabee Sanders told reporters Wednesday.
Rep. Wilson's behavior is "appalling and disgusting," the press secretary added.
Asked for White House Chief of Staff's Gen. John Kelly's response to the controversy, Huckabee Sanders says he thought Trump's remarks were "completely appropriate and respectful." The president, she noted, was offering condolences on behalf of the country.
Wilson is not only standing by her story, but she is now demanding an investigation into the Niger attack.
Arnold Wright, the father of one of the other three soldiers killed in the Niger attack (Army Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright),
spoke to Time about the call he received from President Trump:
Arnold Wright earlier spoke to CBS News , reporting his call with Trump lasted about twenty minutes with Wright doing most of the talking, focusing on his concerns over lack of air cover for his son's patrol. Wright said Trump was "real cordial" and he was confident Trump would look in to the lack of air cover.
In his interview with Time, Wright blasted the controversy surrounding Trump's call to Myeshia Johnson, saying the focus should be on his son and the kind of man he was and that he "died in a bad situation that needs to be changed".
...Arnold Wright, the father of the late Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, said he and Trump spoke for about 20 minutes, and that Trump mostly listened.
"He talked to me about the loss of my son and how he served with honor and dignity and he just wanted to give me a call to thank me," Arnold Wright told TIME in a phone interview. "I told him the kind of man Dustin was. We talked about his deployment. ... We got troops out there with no air cover. There are still teams in the country. That was the main point that was the conversation."
Arnold Wright said he had no qualms about the fact that Trump's phone call came nearly two weeks after his son's death was announced...
"The tone was great," Wright said. "His comments were appropriate."
When pressed if Trump had said something similar to him, Wright said twice that Trump did not, adding that he didn't see anything problematic about it anyway.
"I'll say it: my son knew what he signed up for. He signed up to be a green beret. He had no illusions about what that meant," said Wright, a military veteran himself. "My son came from a military family with a tradition that dates back to 1812. He fully knew what it means to serve and the risk involved."
Wright, who declined to say whether he supported Trump in the 2016 election, said the focus should be on the lost soldiers and not Trump's response.
"This isn't about Donald Trump and this isn't about a damn phone call," he said. "This is about my son and the kind of man he was. He died in a bad situation that needs to be changed. And he's not coming back home."
Comment: Russian senators have presented a list of 5 U.S. media outlets that could be restricted in response, including CNN.