Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), one of the country’s largest military service advocacy groups, slammed Donald Trump on Friday for comparing the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Medal of Honor, the country’s highest military honor usually awarded to soldiers wounded in combat.
“These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also crassly characterized the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty,” VFW National Commander Al Lipphardt wrote in a statement Friday.
Trump made the comment while speaking at an event at his Bedminister, N.J. club and recalled giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to GOP mega donor Miriam Adelson in 2018.
“That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian. It’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor, but civilian version,” Trump said.
“It’s actually much better because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers,” Trump added. “They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they are dead. She gets it and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman. And they’re rated equal, but she got the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
Lipphardt said Trump’s comments raises questions about whether he can effectively serve as commander-in-chief if he is reelected.
“When a candidate to serve as our military’s commander-in-chief so brazenly dismisses the valor and reverence symbolized by the Medal of Honor and those who have earned it, I must question whether they would discharge their responsibilities to our men and women in uniform with the seriousness and discernment necessary for such a powerful position,” he said.
“It is even more disappointing when these comments come from a man who already served in this noble office and should frankly already know better,” Lipphardt added.
Despite fierce criticism, the Trump campaign is not backing down.
Trump’s running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) told reporters at a campaign stop in Milwaukee: “I don’t think him complementing and saying a nice word about a person who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom is in any way denigrating those received military honors.”
“They are two different awards,” he continued. “And think, the president was saying some nice things about a person he liked and that is a totally reasonable thing to do.”
Trump campaign senior advisor Corey Lewandowski told NewsNation that “there are some people who don’t serve in our military but should still be recognized with the highest honor our country has to offer them,” when asked about Trump equating the awards.
