Myeshia Johnson, the widow of late Army Sgt. La David Johnson, told ABC News that President Donald Trump “stumbl[ed] on remembering my husband’s name” when he called to offer his condolences on his death. Johnson also confirmed reports from her mother-in-law and Congress member Frederica Wilson (D-FL) that Trump told her that her husband “knew what he signed up for.”
Gold Star widow: Trump couldn’t remember my husband’s name. Trump: she’s a liar.
Dylan Matthews was a senior correspondent and head writer for Vox’s Future Perfect section. He is particularly interested in global health and pandemic prevention, anti-poverty efforts, economic policy and theory, and conflicts about the right way to do philanthropy.
“What Miss Wilson said was not fabricated. What she said was 100 percent correct,” Johnson told Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos.
Trump’s handling of Sgt. Johnson’s death, and in particular his phone call to Myeshia Johnson, has become the focus of huge controversy in the past week, after Rep. Wilson accused Trump of insensitive remarks in the call, and of failing to remember La David’s name. Myeshia Johnson is now confirming that account, saying that Trump’s inability to remember her husband’s name “made me upset and cry even more because my husband was an awesome soldier,” and that she was “very angry” about the contents of the phone call.
Asked if she had anything to say to the president after the phone call, Johnson told ABC, “No, I don’t have nothing to say to him.”
Shortly after the ABC News interview, President Trump responded to Myeshia Johnson’s remarks, asserting, “I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!”
Of course, the president and his team have very little credibility on the facts of this controversy anymore. Trump previously claimed that Rep. Wilson “totally fabricated” her account, only for Sgt. Johnson’s mother to come forward and confirm Wilson’s version of the events.
Then, White House Chief of Staff (and Gold Star parent) John Kelly took to the White House press secretary’s podium and, among other statements, confirmed that Trump told Myeshia Johnson her husband “knew what he signed up for.” But Kelly also accused Rep. Wilson of acting disrespectfully at a dedication ceremony for an FBI field office in Miami in 2015. The only problem was that Kelly totally misrepresented what Rep. Wilson said at the event — which video of the event, subsequently released by the Sun-Sentinel newspaper, confirmed.
Given the number of times the White House’s version of events has been disputed or debunked this past week, it seems reasonable to be skeptical of Trump’s latest Twitter accusation that a Gold Star widow lied to the public.
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