总统唐纳德·特朗普有力地否认了一份声称他对倒下的美国军队发表了轻蔑言论的新报告。
根据新闻报道报告在杰弗里·戈德堡(Jeffrey Goldberg)的《大西洋》(The Atlantic)一书中，特朗普将在战争中阵亡的美国军人称为“失败者”和“笨蛋”，并取消了2018年对巴黎郊外美国士兵墓地的访问，因为他认为纪念他们并不重要。
美国广播公司新闻尚未独立证实《大西洋报道》，该报道引用了四个不知名的消息来源，这些消息来源都是直接知情的。
周四晚，在宾夕法尼亚州的一次竞选集会后，奥巴马总统抵达华盛顿，显然非常愤怒，他向乘坐空军一号的记者发表了长达七分钟的抨击。
“我愿意以任何我从未说过的关于我们倒下的英雄的话发誓。”没有人比他更尊重他们了。”
总统坚称这个故事是虚构的，并暗示匿名消息来源是在政府中没有成功的前官员。
“这是他们编造的，可能是几个人在政府中失败了。我摆脱了，我不能尽快摆脱他们。或者只是编造出来的。”
2020年9月4日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在华盛顿特区白宫举行的新闻发布会上发表讲话。
特朗普在周五下午的新闻发布会上再次否认了该报道，称其为“骗局”，并将其与俄罗斯的调查进行了比较。
特朗普说:“没有人比我对我们的士兵、我们受伤的战士、我们在战争中牺牲的士兵有更强烈的感情。”“这是一个骗局，就像假档案是一个骗局，就像俄罗斯，俄罗斯，俄罗斯是一个骗局。这完全是个骗局。没有勾结。就像许多其他事情一样，这是一个骗局。随着我们离选举越来越近，你会听到更多完全不相关的事情。”
当这些评论被指控发生时，两位在旅行中站在总统一边的助手也站出来发表了强有力的记录在案的否认，称总统发表了报告中指控的诋毁性评论。
前新闻秘书萨拉·哈克比·桑德斯推说这个故事是“完全的废话。”
“实际上我也在场，其中一个人参与了讨论——但这从未发生过。”桑德斯写道。
总统负责通信的副总参谋长，丹·斯卡维诺也发了推特，称这份报告“完全是‘匿名来源’的谎言”，是在选举前诽谤总统的“令人厌恶的”企图。
前国家安全顾问约翰·博尔顿(John Bolton)写了一本批评总统的书，在墓地之旅被取消时，他正和特朗普一起前往法国。他告诉ABC新闻，他没有听到总统将死去的美国军人称为“傻瓜”或“失败者。”
博尔顿说，虽然他不能排除总统在另一个时间发表评论的可能性，但他当时在那里讨论取消总统的墓地之行，没有听到任何类似《大西洋月刊》的报道。
总统强烈否认此事之际，他正寻求在11月选举前获得军方的支持，民调显示总统落后于民主党候选人和前副总统乔·拜登。
特朗普说:“想想看，当没有人像我这样做的时候，我会对我们的军队和我们倒下的英雄们发表负面的声明——在预算方面，在为我们的军队加薪方面。”“他们只是想影响总统选举。”
唐纳德·特朗普总统在参加了宾夕法尼亚州拉特罗布的一次竞选集会后，在安德鲁斯空军基地与记者交谈。2020年9月3日，马里兰州安德鲁斯空军基地
在周五的讲话中，乔·拜登猛烈抨击了《大西洋月刊》中特朗普的言论。
“如果《大西洋月刊》上写的是真的，那就太恶心了。它肯定了我们大多数人相信的真理。唐纳德·特朗普不适合做总统的工作，也不适合做总司令。”他后来补充说:“如果这些声明是真的，总统应该谦恭地向每一位金星父母和每一个蓝星家庭道歉。”他以为他是谁?”
他的竞选发言人安德鲁·贝茨(Andrew Bates)后来在一份声明中补充道:“唐纳德·特朗普是美国历史上最不诚实的总统，这不仅是一个可以量化的现实，而且他也是活着的人中最不可信的一个。”这与海军陆战队高级军官、国防部官员以及其他四位直接了解这些声明的人的说法相比如何?不太好。”
尽管特朗普对该报道的说法表示怀疑，但他有对曾经是战俘的军人发表轻蔑言论的历史。他最著名的攻击是已故的参议员约翰·麦凯恩，他说麦凯恩在北越监狱度过的五年并没有让他成为英雄。
特朗普在2015年评价麦凯恩时说:“他不是战争英雄。”“我喜欢没有被俘虏的人。好吗?我不想告诉你。”
周四晚上，特朗普试图通过吹嘘他批准了2018年麦凯恩葬礼的计划，来改写他对麦凯恩的批评。
“所有这些都必须得到总统的批准。我毫不犹豫、毫无怨言地批准了它。我觉得他活该。我不同意他的观点。他是个硬汉，”特朗普说。
奥巴马总统在周五的新闻发布会上再次表示，他尊重麦凯恩，但他与这位已故参议员“从未相处过”:“这并不意味着我不尊重他。”我尊重他。但是在很多事情上我真的不同意他。我想我是对的。我认为时间在很大程度上证明了我的正确性。”
即使在麦凯恩死后，总统仍继续批评他，他没有被邀请参加这位已故参议员的葬礼。
Trump denies report claiming he made disparaging remarks about fallen service members
PresidentDonald Trumpis forcefully denying a new report that claims he made disparaging remarks about fallen American troops.
According to the newreportin The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg, Trump referred to American service members killed in war as "losers" and "suckers" and canceled a visit to a cemetery for American soldiers outside Paris in 2018 because he didn't think it was important to honor them.
ABC News has not independently confirmed The Atlantic report, which cites four unnamed sources with direct knowledge in making the claims.
Landing in Washington late Thursday night after a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, the president -- visibly angry -- delivered a seven-minute diatribe to reporters who had traveled on Air Force One.
"I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes. There's nobody that respects them more," Trump said.
The president insisted the story is fabricated and suggested the anonymous sources were former officials who did not succeed in their roles in the administration.
"They made it up and probably it's a couple of people that have been failures in the administration. That I got rid of, and I couldn't get rid of them fast enough. Or it was just made up," he said.
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., Sept. 4, 2020.
Trump again denied the report in a press conference Friday afternoon, calling it a "hoax" and comparing it to the Russia investigation.
"There is nobody that feels more strongly about our soldiers, our wounded warriors, our soldiers that died in war, than I do," Trump said. "It's a hoax, just like the fake dossier was a hoax, just like the Russia, Russia, Russia was a hoax. It was a total hoax. No collusion. Just like so many other things, it's a hoax. And you'll hear more of these things, totally unrelated, as we get closer and closer to election."
Two aides who were at the president's side on the trip when the comments were alleged to have happened have also come forward to issue forceful on-the-record denials that the president made the disparaging comments alleged in the report.
Former press secretarySarah Huckabee Sanderstweeted that the story is "total BS."
"I was actually there and one of the people part of the discussion -- this never happened,"Sanders wrote.
The president's deputy chief of staff for communications,Dan Scavino, also tweeted, calling the report "complete lies by 'anonymous sources'" and a "disgusting" attempt to smear the president ahead of the election.
Former national security adviser John Bolton, who wrote a book critical of the president and who was with Trump on the trip to France when the cemetery trip was canceled, told ABC News he didn't hear the president refer to dead American service members as "suckers" or "losers."
Bolton said that while he can't rule out that the president made the comments at another time, he was there for discussions on canceling the president's trip to the cemetery and didn't hear anything like what is reported in The Atlantic.
The president's forceful denial comes as he seeks to shore up support among the military ahead of the November election, with polls showing the president trailing Democratic nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden.
"To think I would make statements negative to our military and our fallen heroes when no one has done what I've done-with the budgets, with getting pay raises for our military," Trump said. "All they're trying to do is influence a presidential election."
President Donald Trump talks with reporters at Andrews Air Force Base after attending a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pa., Sept. 3, 2020, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
In remarks Friday, Joe Biden slammed the comments attributed to Trump in The Atlantic article.
"If what is written in The Atlantic is true it is disgusting. It affirms what most of us believe to be true. Donald Trump is not fit to be the job of president to be the commander in chief," Biden said. He later added: "If these statements are true, the president should humbly apologize to every gold star mother and father and every blue star family. Who the heck does he think he is?"
His campaign spokesperson, Andrew Bates, later added in a statement, "Not only is it a quantifiable reality that Donald Trump is the most dishonest president in American history, but he's also one of the least credible human beings alive. How does that stack up next to the word of senior Marine Corps officers, DoD officials, and four other people with direct knowledge of these statements? Not well."
While Trump expressed disbelief at the story's claims, he has a history of making disparaging comments about members of the military who have been prisoners of wars. He most famously attacked the late Sen. John McCain and said the five years McCain spent in a North Vietnam prison do not make him a hero.
"He's not a war hero," Trump said of McCain in 2015. "I like people that weren't captured. OK? I hate to tell you."
Thursday night, Trump tried to recast the narrative of his criticism of McCain by boasting that he approved the plans for McCain's funeral in 2018.
"All of that had to be approved by the president. I approved it without hesitation, without complaint. And I felt he deserved it. I disagreed with him. He was a tough guy," Trump said.
Again at a press conference Friday the president said he respected McCain, but he "never got along" with the late senator: "That doesn't mean I don't respect him. I respected him. But I really disagreed with him on a lot of things. And I think I was right. I think time has proven me right to a large extent."
The president, who has continued to criticize McCain even after his death, was not invited to attend the late senator's funeral.
