Biden has a history of pointing out Trump's disrespect of American soldiers

During the recent historic debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Biden hit with an attack that pointed out the former president's very crass remarks about the nation's war dead buried at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France. 

In response to a question about immigration, Trump said that Biden “doesn’t care about our veterans" according to a quote from Rolling Stone. Trump added: “He doesn’t like the military at all, and he doesn’t care about our veterans... Nobody has been worse. I had the highest approval rating for veterans.”

Biden didn't take too kindly to Trump's remark and hit back by saying everything the former president and explained how his administration had helped American veterans before hitting Trump with a doozy: “My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You’re the sucker, you’re the loser,” Biden said to Trump.

Biden was evoking words from the long-reported revelation that Trump had once called the soldiers buried at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery suckers and losers. Trump bickered with Biden over his alleged remarks, saying it was untrue and that 19 people confirmed he never said those words. 

Biden was quick to counter Trump's claim by stating the story had been confirmed by John Kelly, a retired four-star general and White House Chief of Staff, who had accompanied the former president on the trip where Trump was accused of calling American soldiers suckers and losers.

Biden's debate attack wasn't the first time he's tried to remind American voters of what Trump said. The President made sure to pay a visit to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery while on a trip to France in June and referenced Trump choosing not to visit the cemetery back when he was President of the United States. 

Biden visited the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery just outside of Paris on the final day of a trip to France to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings of World War II. Let's look at Trump's history with this cemetery. 

The Aisne-Marne American Cemetery contains the graves of 2,289 American soldiers mostly from a battle that occurred during World War I according to the Washington Examiner. But the cemetery is significant today not only for the remains it contains but also because Trump canceled a visit to it while president. 

In 2018, Trump was scheduled to visit the same cemetery but the trip was canceled at the last minute due to weather according to the Washington Examiner, which explained why Trump allegedly couldn’t make the planned visit. 

Haisten Willis noted that “presidents often fly by helicopter for short trips but will go by motorcade, which is slower, in the event of heavy rain” and added that Trump’s trip to the cemetery was canceled because it was too far to travel by motorcade. 

While the official story made sense, reports later emerged that Trump called the troops buried at the cemetery “losers” and didn’t want to visit the cemetery for vain reasons according to an article from The Atlantic’s Jeffery Goldberg published in September 2020. 

Goldberg reported Trump allegedly didn’t want to visit the cemetery because he worried the bad weather would mess up his hair and because he did not think that the war dead should be honored according to four sources who had firsthand knowledge from the day. 

“Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers,” Goldberg reported Trump allegedly said. As previously noted, this version of events was later confirmed by John Kelly, Trump’s Chief of Staff at the time, which he did in a 2023 CNN report on several worrying stories about the former president. 

Goldberg also reported that during a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 U.S. marines buried at Belleau Wood, an area just to the rear of the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery,  as "suckers" for getting killed. 

It was likely reporting about Trump's behavior the day he didn't visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery that Biden was referring to when he was asked by a reporter if there was a reason he chose to visit Aisne-Marne American Cemetery on the final day of his trip to France. 

“This is the most—more American—more Marines were lost here than any battle until the middle of World War II,” Biden said according to the American Presidency Project. “The idea that I come to Normandy and not make the short trip here to pay tribute" Biden added in a brilliant swipe against Trump. 

The President went on to add that America showed up to stop the Germans and that the country “showed up to make sure that they did not prevail. And America shows up when we need it, just like our allies show up for us.”

Biden’s remarks may have been another veiled reference to the growing isolationism of Trump and some of his Republican supporters. However, it was clear from his remarks that he was trying to draw a clear distinction between himself and Donald Trump. 

Never miss a story! Click here to follow The Daily Digest.