Former President Donald Trump made disparaging comments about a wounded US Army veteran after he sang “God Bless America” during his presidency, according to a new report.
Trump allegedly made the nasty remarks at a welcome ceremony of Gen. Mark Milley at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in 2019, after Army captain Luis Avila, who was severely wounded in Afghanistan, sang “God Bless America,” The Atlantic reported.
“Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, the wounded,” Trump allegedly said to Milley in front of several witnesses as he walked over to congratulate Avila after the performance.
Avila, who was handpicked to perform by Milley, had completed five combat tours and lost a leg in an IED attack in Afghanistan, according to the Atlantic.
As a result of his injuries, he subsequently suffered two heart attacks, two strokes, and brain damage.
When Avila’s wheelchair almost tipped over due to the soft, wet ground, Milley’s wife, Hollyanne, ran over to help, as did then-Vice President Mike Pence.
Video of the ceremony shows Trump greeting Avila afterward.
Trump told Milley, who considered Avila and his wife, Claudia, to be symbols of American heroism and sacrifice, to never let the wounded vet appear in public again.
The general, who’d lost 242 soldiers under his command fighting in the Middle East, was deeply disturbed by the comments, the Atlantic reported.
“Milley’s family venerated the military, and Trump’s attitude toward the uniformed services seemed superficial, callous, and, at the deepest human level, repugnant,” The Atlantic report says.
Milley recently invited Avila to sing at his retirement ceremony, the outlet noted.
Trump has a history of making disparaging comments about US troops, including allegedly referring to the fallen soldiers at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France as “losers” and “suckers” after he balked at attending a memorial service in 2018, according to a report from the Atlantic at the time.