As Twitchy reported, a brief Q&A session between Donald Trump and veterans on Monday blew up on social media when the press determined that the GOP nominee’s response to a question “appeared to suggest” that vets with PTSD were weak.
For a candidate who now says she “misspoke” when she pledged to “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business,” Hillary Clinton didn’t hesitate to latch on to the controversy, managing eventually to whittle down Trump’s quote to one word — strong. That required some extensive editing, considering the word appeared in context as, “… you’re strong and you can handle it.”
Seriously: the only word quoted here from the original response is “strong.”
A person who implies that veterans suffering from PTS are not "strong" is unfit to be Commander-in-Chief. Period. https://t.co/Z0WFGWLwqe
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 4, 2016
Clinton continued to ride the wave Tuesday afternoon at a — wait for it — press availability following a campaign stop. She and the press are friends now.
Clinton: Trump said "some very troubling things about" PTSD, "showing his insensitivity & his ignorance" on condition affecting "strong" ppl
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) October 4, 2016
.@HillaryClinton: Trump's PTSD comments "not just ignorant, they're harmful" https://t.co/RP24DL0VoF
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 4, 2016
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Clinton: Trump comments on PTSD show ‘insensitivity and ignorance’ https://t.co/DXzLMbX6FX
— Post Politics (@postpolitics) October 4, 2016
His comments showed “insensitivity,” said the person who threw up her hands and asked of the deaths in Benghazi, “What difference, at this point, does it make?”
Even Monday night, people who are no fans of Trump were calling this one a stretch.
The Trump PTSD story is manufactured controversy. There are plenty of things to nail Trump over. This isn’t one of them.
— Anthony DeRosa? (@Anthony) October 4, 2016
I actually think this is right. Bad word choice by Trump, but he's actually being sympathetic here https://t.co/0Q0Zgz6E8t
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) October 4, 2016
Thankfully, CNN’s Jake Tapper came though with some much needed perspective Tuesday afternoon, making note of a report that the VA scandal of long and sometimes deadly wait times hasn’t gone away.
New IG report: Phoenix VA hospital still has major problems https://t.co/m8AvXmJJ7w @DrewGriffinCNN #TheLead
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 4, 2016
Democratic politicians more outraged by Trump’s PTSD comment than VA scandal? https://t.co/wMKC4NCPyC #TheLead
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 4, 2016
One outrage at a time, please. Last week was body image and fat-shaming; this week it’s calling vets with PTSD weak.
And his PTSD comment was taken out of context. A BS attack. https://t.co/m91FKR2YuP
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 4, 2016
@jaketapper Good discussion this am by @JoeNBC panel. Media doing end zone dance increases lack of trust in institutional media.
— Sean Southard (@sean_southard) October 4, 2016
either way the phoenix VA scandal now has another actual corpse and is more important
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 4, 2016
Funny how little noise has been made about that by the media today.
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