前国防部长查克·哈格尔抨击总统唐纳德·特朗普周日评论据称他制造了根据一份爆炸性的报告，关于美国军方成员，匿名消息来源称，他称他们为“失败者”和“傻瓜”，并质疑他们追求军旅生涯的动机大西洋。
“如果他们是真实的，这有损于任何总司令的尊严。哈格尔周日在接受美国广播公司《本周》采访时谈到了这些所谓的言论。
周四，《大西洋月刊》(The Atlantic)发表了一篇报道，描述了所谓的诋毁以及特朗普对军队的个人观点，引发了总统批评者的迅速而强烈的反弹。特朗普和他的众多工作人员出席了文章中提到的一些事件，他们否认了这份报告，并将其称为“骗局。”
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。
那些为总统辩护的人很快注意到这份报告依赖于匿名来源。哈格尔周日承认了这一事实，并敦促这些消息来源站出来。
他告诉《本周》的联合主持人玛莎·拉德达茨:“我认为现在这很重要，如果这些人说了这些话，或者据说说了这些话，他们认为这对这个国家的未来很重要，那么他们也应该表现出一些勇气。”
但哈格尔接着指出特朗普公开不尊重已故参议员约翰·麦凯恩和他的政府中在军队服役的成员的记录。
“让我们回顾一下特朗普自己从2016年开始说出的话，以及他对约翰·麦凯恩的评价和他继续对麦凯恩的评价。”他是如何贬低氏族的服务的。(詹姆斯)玛蒂丝和(赫伯特)麦克马斯特，以及最近，(约翰)凯利将军，”哈格尔说。“这位总统过去三四年的历史非常清楚。”
在2018年参议员去世之前，总统多次与2008年共和党总统候选人麦凯恩发生冲突。在2016年的总统初选中，特朗普侮辱了麦凯恩在越南战争中作为战俘度过的五年多时间，说他喜欢“没有被俘的人。”奥巴马总统周四在推特上表示，他“从未像《大西洋月刊》所宣称的那样称麦凯恩为失败者”，但视频显示，特朗普在2015年的一次竞选活动中就是这么做的。
哈格尔周日说:“过去几年里，他一直在公开发表自己的言论，这使得这篇文章以及那些匿名评论的可信度越来越高。”
特朗普周五在与美国广播公司首席白宫记者乔纳森卡尔(Jonathan Karl)的交流中承认:“我在很多事情上与约翰麦凯恩(John McCain)意见相左。”“这并不意味着我不尊重他。我尊重他，但在很多事情上我真的不同意他，我认为我是对的。我认为时间在很大程度上证明了我是对的。”
曾在奥巴马政府中担任国防部长并在参议院代表内布拉斯加州连任两届的共和党人哈格尔，在2016年既不支持特朗普也不支持民主党候选人希拉里·克林顿之后，于今年3月支持民主党总统候选人乔·拜登。
当拉德茨问及这份报告在竞选的最后两个月会引起怎样的反响时，哈格尔预测它会产生影响。
“我认为这是对这位总统对待我们老兵的态度的一个相当明确的控诉，”他接着批评特朗普最近在种族正义抗议活动中部署军队。"从来没有一位总统这样做过——用你的老兵，用你的现役军人作为道具."
Raddatz还采访了丹佛地区的退伍军人，他们分享了自己对该事件的反应，从对匿名消息来源的怀疑和对总统在退伍军人问题上的行动的辩护，到对他指挥下的现役部队的直言不讳的谴责和担忧。
“我的第一反应是，这是什么?这没什么意义。每一项指控都有匿名消息来源支持，”一位老兵尼克·格雷说，他“绝对”不相信这篇文章。
“我是老兵。我服务过两次。我有一颗紫色的心。德鲁·斯隆说，他曾在阿富汗和伊拉克服役。
他这样评价总统:“这是一个以我为中心的世界观，很难有一个以我为中心的世界观和真正理解兵役。”
斯隆继续说:“我认为这是一个尊重军方投票的人。”“但这与尊重兵役是两码事。”
If real, President Donald Trump's comments about troops 'despicable': former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel blasted PresidentDonald TrumpSunday for commentshe allegedly madeabout members of the U.S. military -- with unnamed sources claiming he called them "losers" and "suckers" and questioned their motivations for pursuing a service career, according to an explosive report published byThe Atlantic.
"If they're real, it's beneath the dignity of any commander-in-chief. Truly, they're despicable," Hagel said of the purported remarks in an interview on ABC's "This Week" Sunday.
On Thursday, The Atlantic published the story which described the alleged disparagements and what it described as Trump's private views on the military, resulting in swift and vocal backlash from the president's critics. Trump and numerous members of his staff present for some of the events referenced in the article have denied the report and labeled it a "hoax."
ABC News has not independently confirmed The Atlantic report, which cites four unnamed sources with direct knowledge in making the claims.
Those who have come to the president's defense have been quick to note that the report relies on anonymous sources. Hagel acknowledged that fact Sunday and urged those sources to come forward.
"I think it's important now, if these guys who said this -- or allegedly said it -- think it's that important for the future of this country, then they should show some courage and stuff for it as well," he told "This Week" Co-anchor Martha Raddatz.
But Hagel went on to point out Trump's record of public disrespect toward the late Sen. John McCain and members of his administration who served in the armed services.
"Let's go back and look at Mr. Trump's words himself, coming out of his own mouth, starting in 2016 and what he said about John McCain and what he continued to say about McCain. How he degraded the service of Gens. (James) Mattis and (H.R.) McMaster, and just recently, Gen. (John) Kelly," Hagel said. "The history of -- of this president over the last three and four years is -- is pretty clear."
The president repeatedly clashed with McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, before the senator's death in 2018. During the 2016 presidential primaries, Trump insulted the more than-five years McCain spent as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, saying he likes "people who weren't captured." The president tweeted Thursday that he "never called (McCain) a loser," as claimed in The Atlantic story, but video shows Trump doing just that at a 2015 campaign event.
"He's on the record with saying things himself over the past few years, and that makes the credibility of this article, and those anonymous comments, more and more credible," Hagel said Sunday.
“I disagreed with John McCain on a lot of things,” Trump acknowledged in an exchange with ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl Friday. “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.”
Hagel, a Republican who served as defense secretary in the Obama administration and represented Nebraska for two terms in the Senate, endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in March, after backing neither Trump or Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Asked by Raddatz about how the report might resonate in the final two months of the campaign, Hagel predicted that it could have an impact.
"I think it's a pretty clear indictment of this president's attitude toward our veterans," he said, going on to criticize Trump's recent deployment of the military at racial justice protests. "No president has ever done that -- use your veterans, use your active military as props."
Raddatz also spoke with military veterans in the Denver area who shared their reactions to the story, ranging from skepticism about the unnamed sources and a defense of the president's actions on veterans' issues, to blunt condemnations and concerns about active duty troops under his command.
"My immediate reaction was, what is this? This doesn't make a lot of sense. And each allegation was supported by anonymous sources," said one veteran, Nic Gray, who said he "absolutely" did not believe the article.
"I'm a veteran. I served two tours. I have a purple heart. It resonates with me," said Drew Sloane, who served tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
"This is someone who has a very me-centric view of the world, and it's hard to have a me-centric view of the world and really understand military service," he said of the president.
"I think this is someone who respects the military vote," Sloane continued. "But that's not the same thing as respecting military service."
