The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said that, if elected, he would ensure that veterans could opt for private physicians, “and we’ll pay for it”.
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As he spoke from a stage at the edge of the Reflecting Pool, Trump hit upon many of themes that have animated his campaign: winning better trade deals, keeping out illegal immigrants and lowering taxes for businesses and the middle class. If you tried to find the most out-of-place individual imaginable for this rally, you could do worse than pointing to a NY billionaire who avoided military service and who’s publicly mocked POWs, saying a year ago, “I like people that weren’t captured, OK?” That had been a dig at Arizona Sen. Trump had previously refused to disclose which charities had received the funds and his campaign has gone back and forth about how much was raised.
Moulton also criticized Trump for his opposition to the GI bill and his proposal to privatize medical clinics run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
He said he had done so on the telethon-style fundraiser he held in Iowa in January as he boycotted a Fox News presidential debate.
Still, Trump, who avoided the draft through a series of deferments, drew scrutiny for not immediately distributing the $6 million he’d claimed to raise, including $1 million he’d pledged himself.
He is expected to hold a news conference Tuesday to announce the names of the charities selected to receive the money.
Trump said the coverage of his veterans group donations had been close to libelous. People were “going crazy” that they couldn’t get through the streams of motorcycles circling the National Mall to get to his rally, Trump said.
Fight gun control: “The [National Rifle Association] as you saw, came out and endorsed me sooner than any candidate before, so that was an honor, and they’re incredible people, wonderful people”.
So we put the question to local military members — who do they feel is best suited to take care of veterans now and into the future?
Mr Trump has a loyal following with bikers, who frequently attend his rallies, where they sometimes clash with Trump protesters.
“Do we love the bikers?”
At the Christian Motorcyclists Association’s outreach table, where volunteers were dispensing cups of water and thoughts about the gospel and Jesus, one of the volunteers said he doubted he’d walk the short distance down the sidewalk to hear Trump speak. “Unfortunately, they don’t allow ’em to come in”, without explaining who “they” are or where these 600,000 people were hiding.
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“Yeah, it is going to be like this”, Trump said when asked if this is how he would behave with the press as president. Meanwhile, at a rally in San Diego, Mr Trump criticised United States district judge Gonzalo Curiel for his handling of the Trump University case. As part of an ever-shifting foreign policy he dubs “America First”, he said the USA shouldn’t spend so much time “defending other countries who don’t even like us”. There seemed little to gain politically from the attacks, and his targets were linked by just one thing: Trump felt they had all done him wrong.
