By Christopher Kowerdovich, Special to The Times
Christopher Kowerdovich
As an Iraqi War Veteran, I know firsthand what true leadership, discipline, and service to our nation look like. We expect our leaders, both in the military and in politics, to uphold these principles. That’s why I feel the need to speak out about why Donald Trump is unfit for public office.
Pennsylvania has nearly 65,000 veterans, the 4th largest veteran population in the United States. They represent 6.2% of the state’s adult civilian population. Donald Trump, has acknowledged to advisors that he made up a fake injury, bone spurs, to avoid military service, because “I wasn’t going to Vietnam.” Yet, instead of praising our brave defenders of freedom, he dishonors them.
Trump Disrespects Vets, Soldiers – Again
Donald Trump recently visited Arlington National Cemetery, the resting place for more than 400,000 service members, as a political stunt to draw attention to the 13 U.S. service members who lost their lives during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan while Joe Biden was President.
His photo-op team then took promotional shots including a very disgusting picture of Trump standing over a grave all smiles and flashing a thumbs up. On a personal level, this was heartbreaking to watch. This is not a place to be joyful; the atmosphere is heavy and somber.
Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) reports 65 American service members died in combat while Trump was President, including 45 in Afghanistan.
Trump has a long history of disrespecting America’s soldiers and veterans, including Senator John McCain and wounded and dead veterans, calling our soldiers buried in France “suckers” and “losers.” He even claimed the Medal of Freedom he gave to a billionaire campaign donor is better than the Congressional Medal of Honor given to U.S. shis own officials.
This very unstable person must not have access to nuclear weapons and a large majority of Americans don’t want a dictator implementing the Project 2025 plot on Day One.
If he really cared about our country, or even the Republican party (he doesn’t), he would step aside. But he won’t do the right thing because he only cares about himself. He is absolutely unfit to be President.
Trump has History of Inciting Violence
No politician has done more to encourage and applaud violence against his political adversaries (and others) than Donald Trump. Here are half of dozen examples:
- October 2018: Trump publicly praised Montana’s Rep. Greg Gianforte for assaulting a reporter.
- June 2020: During protests after George Floyd was murdered Trump asked his Defense Secretary “Can’t you just shoot them?Just shoot them in the legs or something?”
- September 2020: Trump refused to condemn white supremacist violence and told the militant far-right Proud Boys that they should “stand back and stand by.”
- January 6, 2021: Trump incites his followers to attack the Capitol and kill Vice President Pence if he doesn’t overturn Joe Biden’s election victory.
- September 2023: Trump laughs about the vicious hammer attack that nearly killed Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul.
- October 2023: Trump says the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, deserved to face the death penalty because he assured other nations that an unhinged Trump wouldn’t launch a war after he lost the 2020 election.
Donald Trump and the illusion of truth
During his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump falsely claimed “Our crime rate is going up, while crime statistics all over the world are going down.”
Actually, multiple reliable sources show that America’s crime rates spiked during the Covid crisis but have now returned to or gone below the crime rates that existed during the Trump administration’s pre-Covid years.
In February, Trump falsely claimed “the United States is being overrun by migrant crime.”
Actually, multiple unbiased studies have found that native-born citizens are twice as likely to commit serious crimes compared to undocumented immigrants, even in Texas.
At a July rally Trump falsely claimed, “Kamala even wants to pass laws to outlaw red meat to stop climate change.”
That statement is an example of another propaganda technique called the “Big Lie” which was first described by Adolf Hitler in his autobiography, “Mein Kampf.” The concept is to make a lie so colossal that no one can believe you made it up (see stolen election).
Trump’s Declining Mental Health
In July, when Joe Biden showed signs of cognitive decline, he withdrew from the race for the good of the country and his party. It is never easy to cope as we age with mental health decline, yet Biden did the right thing. Donald Trump too is showing numerous signs of dementia, including an inability to complete sentences, slurring words or struggling to pronounce words, incoherent ideas, peculiar behavior, misidentifying people he should know, and habitually lying. His judgment is faltering so badly that, along with many other reasons, some of the loudest critics of Trump’s presidency are those served in his administration.
Christopher Kowerdovich, a Chester County resident, served as a healthcare specialist when he deployed to Iraq with the Pennsylvania National Guard. He currently serves as the Chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party’s Veterans Caucus.
