Trump disputes Gold Star widow’s account of phone call
President Trump early Monday disputed the account of his phone call with a Gold Star widow, who provided a description of the call earlier that morning in an interview.
“I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!” Trump wrote on Twitter, referencing one of the soldiers killed earlier this month in an ambush in Niger.
I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2017
The president’s tweet comes after Myeshia Johnson during an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” confirmed Rep. Frederica Wilson’s (D-Fla.) description of the call.
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“What he said was — yes the president — said that he knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyways. And I was — it made me cry because I was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said it. He couldn’t remember my husband’s name,” Johnson told host George Stephanopoulos.
Trump denied Wilson’s description of the call last week, but Johnson on Monday said the congresswoman’s account “was not fabricated.”
“Whatever Ms. Wilson said was not fabricated, what she said was 100 percent correct,” said Johnson.
“Why would we fabricate something like that?” she later added.
Wilson first provided her description of the call last Tuesday, saying Trump told the widow that her husband “knew what he signed up for.”
Trump repeatedly denied Wilson’s version of the call, as did White House chief of staff John Kelly during a rare appearance on Thursday at the White House press briefing.
This report was updated on Dec. 18 at 10 am.
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