With social media wags comparing President Trump to the Wicked Witch of The West (“I’m melting!”) after he used rainy weather as his roundly ridiculed excuse for skipping a memorial service in France at the final resting place of over 2,000 American soldiers killed during World War I, the French Army itself joined the fray on Twitter with a thinly disguised dig at the American president’s stamina and lack of the least bit of courage.
https://twitter.com/armeedeterre/status/1061908742999027712
In translation, the tweet from Armee de Terre, the official account of France’s army, reads:
“There is rain, but it’s not serious. We stay motivated.”
It’s difficult to argue with the shade that the French military threw Trump’s way, given the hypocrisy he’s exhibited by using veterans as political campaign props — accusing NFL players who kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality against minorities of disrespecting them — while never once visiting active duty troops abroad since taking office as every other modern Commander-In-Chief has done.
While Trump was forced to venture out into the cold dampness of the French autumn the day after his canceled cemetery trip to participate in the international ceremonies memorializing the cessation of hostilities at the end of “The Great War” — as it was referred to before World War II made that title obsolete — he proved that he simply couldn’t care less what people thought of his lack of respect for veterans by again deliberately declining to participate in a Veteran’s Day presidential tradition, refusing to venture into the rain at Arlington National Cemetery today.
Instead, the president stayed home, watched Fox News and tweeted out whatever stories irked him the most.
With a president so self-centered that he insists on insulting our military with his contemptuous disregard for the traditions that the nation has adopted to honor the memories of the brave souls who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, it’s enough to make one want to escape the country and join the French Foreign Legion.
At least they stay motivated.
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Original reporting by Justin Wise at The Hill.
