GOP lawmaker: Good advice for Trump to not to call fallen soldiers’ families

A Virginia Republican on Friday urged President Trump not to call the families of fallen U.S. service members, explaining that different people process such information differently.

Rep. Scott Taylor, (R-Va.) who is a former Navy SEAL, told CNN on Friday that he hopes Trump will avoid making such phone calls in the future.

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“Gen. Kelly, I think, gave the president great advice when he said ‘it’s probably best that you don’t call the family,’ because while we’re talking about this, grieving families and sometimes grieving family members receive information very differently,” Taylor said.

“I hope that moving forward the president will take Gen. Kelly’s advice because he’s been through this, he’s seen this firsthand, he understands it personally. And I would ask the president to lean on Gen. Kelly for his advice,” he continued.

Taylor added that Trump’s feud with Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) over his reported disrespect to the grieving widow of Army Sgt. La David Johnson was unhelpful for the country.

“I don’t think what’s happening right now between the congresswoman and the president is good for anybody. It’s certainly not good for the family,” Taylor said.

Wilson accused Trump of being disrespectful when he told Johnson’s wife that Johnson “knew what he signed up for.” Trump denied that he used those words on Wednesday.

“I didn’t say what that congresswoman said — didn’t say it at all — she knows it,” Trump said on Wednesday. “I would like her to make the statement again because I did not say what she said.”

Kelly addressed reporters at the White House podium Thursday, telling reporters that he was “stunned” by the congresswoman’s conduct.

“It stuns me that a member of Congress would have listened in on that conversation. Absolutely stuns me. I would have thought that was sacred,” Kelly said.