Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday night called out President Trump for reportedly calling fallen military service members “suckers” and “losers.”
“My son was in Iraq. He spent a year there,” the former vice president said, referring to the late Beau Biden.
“He was not a loser. He was a patriot. And the people left behind there were heroes,” Biden said during the first of three presidential debates.
Trump, in response, brushed past the comment, focusing instead on his frequent attack on Hunter Biden, the nominee’s other son.
“Oh, really? Are you talking about Hunter?” Trump asked.
When the former vice president said he was talking about Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer in 2015, Trump replied: “I don’t know Beau, I know Hunter.”
Biden’s initial line of attack drew on a recent report by The Atlantic that said Trump canceled a 2018 trip to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris because he was worried his hair would become disheveled by the rain.
Trump reportedly asked senior staff why he should go to a cemetery that is filled with “losers,” with the article saying he also referred to Marines killed at the Belleau Wood during World War I as “suckers.”
The report sparked swift backlash, though Trump has denied making the remarks.
The president on Tuesday launched a new personal attack on his Democratic rival by focusing on Hunter Biden’s 2014 dismissal from the Navy for cocaine use.
Trump mischaracterized the Navy’s actions against Hunter Biden, saying he was dishonorably discharged.
Biden shot back on Tuesday that his son wasn’t dishonorably discharged, saying that like a lot of Americans his son had a drug problem but was “working on it” and had “fixed it,” adding that he’s proud of his son.
Hunter Biden received an administrative discharge after failing a drug test.
During other parts of the debate in Cleveland, Trump referenced the findings of a controversial Senate GOP report about Hunter Biden’s foreign dealings that was released days before the debate and dismissed by Democrats as an effort to interfere in the election.
“The mayor of Moscow’s wife gave your son $3.5 million,” Trump said.
“None of that is true,” Biden responded. “Totally discredited.”