Veterans hit Trump as ‘draft dodger’ in Biden ad released on D-Day

Three veterans slammed former President Trump as a “draft dodger” and argued he is unfit to be commander in chief in a new video from President Biden’s reelection campaign unveiled Thursday, marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Marine Corps veteran Curtis Register, Army veteran Ed McCabe and Navy veteran Matthew McLaughlin participated in the minutelong video, which was intended to “highlight the stark contrast between Donald Trump, who criticizes veterans and has refused to take accountability or attend military funerals, and President Biden, who stands with our troops abroad and takes care of them at home,” according to the Biden campaign.

“A good commander in chief is somebody who gives a s‑‑‑,” Register said to open the video.

“Donald Trump has zero accountability in his life,” McLaughlin said.

McCabe added, “He’s a draft dodger, simple as that.”

The campaign highlighted that Trump reportedly referred to American veterans buried in France as “losers” and “suckers” and mocked then-Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was a prisoner in the Vietnam War. Trump has previously denied making the “suckers” remark, though it was later confirmed by his former chief of staff, John Kelly.

“From draft dodging to promising to take away veterans’ hard-earned benefits to repeating the rhetoric of dictators, it’s clear that Donald Trump doesn’t care about those who have bravely served our country. He doesn’t understand their sacrifice or the values they vowed to protect,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said in a statement.

Duckworth is a retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel and a member of the Biden campaign’s national advisory board.

“The choice in this election could not be more clear; Donald Trump’s constant disrespect of our service members is in stark contrast to President Biden – a military father – who is working to support our troops and their families and who delivered an historic expansion of health care and benefits for veterans,” the senator added.

Trump’s campaign pushed back on the video, arguing that there is “no bigger champion for our military and veterans than President Trump.”

“He passed the largest reform of the Department of Veterans Affairs in a generation, including VA Accountability and VA Choice, and fired 11,500 federal workers who failed to give our wounded warriors the quality and timely care they so richly deserve,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement. “He secured record funding for mental health services, and expanded access to telehealth and suicide prevention resources. To secure the blessings of freedom for those who risked their lives to defend it, President Trump decreased veteran homelessness, increased educational benefits, and achieved record-low veteran unemployment.”

Trump issued an executive order in 2018 to support veterans’ mental health care and suicide-prevention resources and the Trump administration in 2019 announced a decline in veteran homelessness. The VA Choice program was first passed in 2014 under former President Obama, despite the Trump administration claiming credit for the program, the Associated Press reported in 2019.

Biden is in Normandy, France, for the D-Day anniversary and gave remarks urging Americans to remember the value of international alliances at a precarious moment in world affairs, contrasting that stance with Trump’s America First agenda. Biden also met with dozens of veterans, including some who were at D-Day, telling them they’re the “greatest generation” and “saved the world.”

The president is set to cap his visit Sunday with a stop at the same cemetery where Trump was unable to visit due to weather in 2018.

This story was updated at 7:13 p.m.