Okay, this has nothing to do with anything, except to re-establish that Trump knows nothing about anything, and he is never, ever, ever, wrong – even when discussing matters with experts in the field. The details of this particularly bizarre tale come from The Daily Beast’s excellent reporter and writer Asawin Suebsaeng.
It all started when Trump appointed the woefully under-qualified Omarosa Manigault-Newman to be the White House’s point person to handle veterans’ issues. Veterans rightly saw this as a slap in the face, as the job would normally go to, you know, a veteran, someone who knew what the men and women who served our nation need and what they still go through.
Veterans groups raised enough of a outcry that Trump arranged for a meeting with some principals from select veterans’ organizations in the Roosevelt Room in March of 2017.
During the meeting, Rick Weidman, co-founder of Vietnam Veterans of America, begged the president to allow more veterans access to benefits due to their exposure to Agent Orange, the notoriously poisonous herbicide that the military dropped on the jungles of Vietnam to deprive the NVA of cover. It has sickened tens of thousands of veterans.
Trump said; “That’s taken care of.”
The veterans began to rebut Trump, when Trump – and this is just too bizarre to believe, except coming from Trump – Trump asked; “Is that the stuff from the movie?”
It took a moment but eventually the vets figured out that Trump was referring to Apocalypse Now, and in particular the famous scene with the attack helicopters set to the Ride of the Valkyries.”
Someone mentioned to Trump that the piece demonstrated the military using napalm, not Agent Orange. Trump refused to accept the word of the people who actually fought in the war, never mind the fact that the most famous line in the movie is the iconic: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” No, it didn’t matter, Trump refused to admit he was wrong.
Trump then went around the table, polling the group as to whether they believed it was Agent Orange or napalm in the movie.
The debate over Apocalypse Now in the Roosevelt Room lasted at least two minutes, according to estimates from those who endured it. The president was not able to call on everyone at the roundtable by the end of the event, in part due to these types of tangents.
Unbelievable, except – no, totally believable.
According to Weidman, VVA brought up two main issues to Trump that day: the Agent Orange matter, and making those who have an “administrative discharge” rather than an “honorable discharge” on their record eligible for benefits.
“[Many of] these kids have PTSD, and instead of treating them, they get kicked out and are not eligible for the GI Bill, the VA, nothing,” Weidman explained.
The Daily Beast story goes on to chronicle the difficulties that the veterans groups have had with the White House, in part because of the inexperienced Omarosa having a lead role and partly due to a president who seems distracted at best, outright hostile to learning, at least.
It’s all just so awful.
President Obama used to say that the president has one duty that is “sacred” and that is “protecting veterans” and their issues.
Go wake-up President Obama at 3:15 a.m. some night, and the second you have his waking attention, ask him the explain the difference between napalm and Agent Orange, and which one impacts the long-term health of Vietnam Vets the most. He will likely give a correct and nuanced answer, possibly explaining some of the health impacts and the difficulties.
Then ask him which part played a role in the famous movie Apocalypse Now, and he’ll get that right, too.
But, then, he was a real president, not a TV one.
