The White House had a “remarkable” response to President Donald Trump’s response to sailors suffering on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have been suffering from an ongoing nine-month deployment, which has led to a lack of food and depleted morale. Six sailors are reported to have attempted suicide, and others have jumped ship. Family members of the deployed sailors have attested to the poor conditions, with one slamming Trump.
When Trump was asked whether the deployment of the aircraft carrier had gone on too long, he responded, “No, no, no, not nearly long enough.”
On Friday, CNN White House correspondent Kevin Liptak said White House staff offered no clarification on the comments.
“When I went to the White House today to ask if they had any context or wanted to clarify any of the president’s comments, they said that they were just going to point back to what the president said, which is really kind of remarkable,” Liptak said. “When you talk to people in the military, there is a degree of stunned when you hear what the president said.”
Liptak noted Trump’s reaction to the question. He seemed “visibly irritated” about being asked about the USS Abraham Lincoln. “He kind of snapped after that first answer,” Liptak said. “He sort of abruptly turned and walked away, which is not his norm when he’s speaking on the tarmac.”
The USS Abraham Lincoln was deployed ahead of the conflict in Iran. According to Liptak, the attention around the conditions “underscores what is the concern that you hear consistently among American officials, which is just how long this war has gone on.”
He added, “These lengthy deployments only remind the American public that the president’s initial six weeks was absolutely wrong,” and noted, “You also hear concerns about the munitions stockpile and the worry that you hear from military officials is that the longer these deployments go on.”
The post CNN flags White House’s ‘remarkable’ reaction to Trump’s dismissal of suffering sailors appeared first on Raw Story.
