A CNN anchor forcefully pushed back Friday as she unsuccessfully tried to get a Florida Republican congressman and military veteran to retract his statement that President Joe Biden sees the troops as "disposable." Brian Mast , who served in Afghanistan as an explosive ordinance disposal technician and lost his legs in 2010 when an IED detonated, joined Kaitlan Collins on "The Source." Mast began the discussion defending former President Donald Trump's comment that the Presidential Medal of Freedom is better than the Medal of Honor because the latter is often given to people who were wounded or killed.
"What [former] President Trump said was insightful," said Mast. "There's nobody that goes and seeks to win a Medal of Honor. There's no service member that goes out there and says, "I'm going to get that Medal of Honor,' because it's something that you earn because of the valor that you show under the most deadly combat circumstances.
Nobody wants that just like nobody wants a Purple Heart." When the conversation later steered to Trump's comments denigrating military service — such as his comments about the late Sen. John McCain and John Kelly — Mast accused Biden of "squandering" the service of troops in the Middle East.
ALSO READ: Harris has figured out Trump’s greatest liability "They squandered the service of every veteran that served in Afghanistan because of that withdrawal, because they failed to talk about the failures that exist there," he said. When Collins pushed back, and said she wasn't sure that was a "fair" statement, Mast doubled down. "I think it's fair — they see us as disposable," he said.
"When President Biden goes out onto a tarmac, checks his watch ...
they're seeing us as disposable individuals." As Mast continued his tirade, accusing the Biden administration of trying to strip veterans who use the Department of Veterans Affairs of their community care, Collins tried to interject. "But congressman we — I have to stop you," she said.
"I think you can disagree with them on policy. Disagree with them on the Afghanistan exit, we've had plenty of Republicans who have. But to say that President Biden doesn't appreciate military service given his son, I think, you would agree that's an unfair comment.
" Not to be deterred, Mast disagreed. "I wouldn't say that at all," he said. "To say that he takes it for granted is not fair," she replied.
"You're talking words of [former] President Trump versus literal actions from the Biden administration," said Mast. Collins tried again: "His son served in the military, congressman." "His son did serve in the military," Mast acknowledged, "but he's treating the rest of us like we are disposable.
And we are not." Watch the clip below or at this link . A Gold Star father who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation's highest civilian honor — slammed former President Donald Trump over his comments that the civilian honor is better than the Medal of Honor — the nation's high est military award — because the later is often given to soldiers wounded or killed in combat.
“I watched Sheldon sitting so proud in the White House when we gave Miriam the Presidential Medal of Freedom," Trump said. "That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian, it’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor." He added: "But civilian version, it’s actually much better because everyone [who] gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they're soldiers.
They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead. She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman, and they’re rated equal, but she got the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she got it for — and that’s through committees and everything else.” Khizr Khan , father of fallen Army Capt.
Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq saving the lives of his fellow soldiers, spoke with CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins on Friday night and rebuked Trump's comments. "I was saddened and appalled. That's typical Trump — hate and division.
These awards are acknowledgment of a grateful nation, of the service of the recipient. And to create a division and a comparison, each award has its own significance and we must honor the recipients equally," he said. Khan said that is "beyond Trump," who must "create controversy and divide and create hate.
" ALSO READ: Donald Trump deep in debt while foreign money keeps coming: disclosure Khan added he was "not surprised." "He was being himself," said Khan. "He has inherent contempt of men and women serving in uniform and those who have served.
" Khan pointed to an instance in 2018 in Paris on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, in which Trump called troops " suckers and losers ." And on Memorial Day in 2017, during a visit to Arlington National Cemetary, Khan pointed to Trump asking his chief of staff what's in it for the soldiers. John Kelly, the longest-serving White House chief of staff, confirmed reporting that Trump turning to him that day as they stood among those killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, “I don’t get it.
What was in it for them?” Khan, whose son is also buried in that section, said Trump has "no comprehension what sacrifice and service to country means." "Time after time he has proven he has no capacity or capability — he is nothing but ego and appetite. Everywhere you see him speak, that is what is on display," said Khan.
Watch the clip below or at this link . The FBI has conducted a raid and search at the home of a Russian-born analyst who advised former President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign, reported The Guardian on Friday. Dimitri Simes, whose name came up over 100 times in former special counsel Robert Mueller's report into Russian interference in the election, told the Rappahannock News he was out of the country and wasn't notified of the search ahead of time.
He was also not aware that he was the focus of a law enforcement investigation , he said. A spokesperson for the FBI said, “The FBI conducted court-authorized law enforcement activity. We have no further comment as this is an ongoing matter.
” Simes, speaking to Russian state media company Sputnik, suggested he is a target of political persecution, saying that the FBI search “clearly is an attempt to intimidate, not only somebody from Russia , but just anyone who goes against official policies and particularly against the deep state.” He added, “My suspicion is that instead of trying to get me to come to the United States and to interrogate me or even to arrest me, their real purpose is to make sure that I would not come back.” ALSO READ: Donald Trump deep in debt while foreign money keeps coming: disclosure Echoing this sentiment, Simes' son posted on X, “The Biden regime is terrified of being called out over Ukraine and Israel.
” Simes has worked as a political adviser since the 1970s when he first emigrated to the United States from the former Soviet Union and worked with the Nixon administration. He helped craft foreign policy speeches for the Trump campaign, including one where Trump suggested closer cooperation with Russia. The Mueller report specifically linked Simes to the work of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Ultimately, Mueller found ample evidence Trump accepted help from the Kremlin and obstructed justice but stopped short of recommending charges of criminal conspiracy against the then-sitting president, which led Trump to falsely claim that the report was a complete exoneration of his actions and showed there was "no collusion" with Russia. The national commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars on Friday denounced former President Donald Trump's comments that appeared to demean Medal of Honor recipients. "On Thursday, former President Donald Trump spoke at an event where he made some flippant remarks about the Medal of Honor and the heroes who have received it," Al Lipphardt said in a statement .
"These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also crassly characterizes the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty." "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," Lipphardt 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.
" ALSO READ: Donald Trump deep in debt while foreign money keeps coming: disclosure Trump who is notorious for making controversial statements about war heroes, including mocking the late Sen. John McCain's torture in a POW camp and allegedly calling Marines who fell in World War I " losers and suckers ," made the new remarks at an event honoring Miriam Adelson , the wife of deceased GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson. “I watched Sheldon sitting so proud in the White House when we gave Miriam the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian, it’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor," said Trump. "But civilian version, it’s actually much better because everyone [who] gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they're soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead.
She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman, and they’re rated equal, but she got the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she got it for — and that’s through committees and everything else.” His comments provoked immediate outrage among a number of veterans, who saw it as dismissing the sacrifice made by war heroes..
