Kerry tears into Trump for skipping visit to military cemetery: ‘Truculent child president’

Former Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday tore into President Trump for skipping a visit to a military cemetery in France, calling the president a “truculent child.”

“People are tired of the embarrassment of what took place in Paris in the last few days,” Kerry said on BBC Radio 4, according to The Guardian. “We cannot have a truculent child president. We need something serious.”

{mosads}Trump has been hit with criticism for backing out of a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial in Belleau, France, last weekend. He was in France to commemorate the centennial of the end of World War I. 

The White House said Trump was unable to visit the military cemetery due to inclement weather, and, on Tuesday, Trump tweeted he was urged to back out of the visit by Secret Service because a motorcade would cause a disturbance. 

“I was appalled that rain drops prevented the president from going to pay honor to those that died in rain, gas, snow and mud,” Kerry said in the interview. “That was the reason he came to Paris.”

Kerry, a frequent Trump critic who served under former President Obama, in a tweet over the weekend wrote that Trump “didn’t bother to honor” the veterans when he skipped the visit.

“President @realDonaldTrump a no-show because of raindrops? Those veterans the president didn’t bother to honor fought in the rain, in the mud, in the snow – & many died in trenches for the cause of freedom,” Kerry, who was the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, tweeted.

“Rain didn’t stop them & it shouldn’t have stopped an American president,” he added.

President @realDonaldTrump a no-show because of raindrops? Those veterans the president didn’t bother to honor fought in the rain, in the mud, in the snow – & many died in trenches for the cause of freedom. Rain didn’t stop them & it shouldn’t have stopped an American president.

— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) November 11, 2018

During the BBC interview, the former secretary of State addressed speculation that he might launch a presidential bid for 2020, saying he is not “actively running.” He added that the potentially crowded Democratic field is likely to be a “mish-mash.”