The Donald Trump post-DNC hit parade kept on keeping on Tuesday, when the Republican nominee for the president of the United States of America once again proved he knows very little about many things. Already bobbing and weaving through a self-created tornado of less-than-flattering news stories about his response writ large to Kzir Khan’s convention speech, and with news Trump was handed a handful of deferments during the Vietnam War, common sense would dictate the candidate should probably talk about something, anything, else for a while. Trump didn’t. Instead, he riffed about a Purple Heart he received from a supporter during a rally in Ashburn, Virginia.
Here’s the exchange (via Politico):
“I said to him, ‘Is that like the real one, or is that a copy?’ ” the Republican nominee said moments after taking the stage at a local high school. Trump recounted the exchange, remarking that the man, who he identified as retired Lt. Col. Louis Dorfman said, “That’s my real Purple Heart. I have such confidence in you.” “And I said, ‘Man, that’s like big stuff. I always wanted to get the Purple Heart,’ ” Trump said. “This was much easier.”
Donald, Donald, Donald. This is exhausting. “Big stuff?” “Always wanted a Purple Heart?” It’s not totally clear Donald Trump knows what a Purple Heart is awarded for. Being injured or killed on the battlefield isn’t usually a goal; it’s the consequence of sacrifice. But what Donald wants, Donald gets. “I would hope than anyone who receives a Purple Heart medal for any other reason, understands its importance and meaning, and would not do anything with it that would in any way denigrate its special meaning for those who have received it,” Military Order of the Purple Heart spokesman John Bircher told NBC News.
Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, who lost both her legs in the Iraq war, was not impressed.
Neither was Kzir Khan.
