Sen. Tom Cotton lied and said that Trump was taken out of context when he denigrated every Medal of Honor recipient while exalting the President’s Medal of Freedom.
KARL: I want to ask you about something else that Trump had to say recently, is saying the presidential Medal of Freedom which is something presidents give out.
Trump gave one to Devin Nunes, the former Congressman, is the equivalent and much better than the Medal of Honor, which of course, is the fact, as you know, as a combat veteran, it’s sacred. I mean, it’s the military’s highest military honor. What do you make of that?
COTTON: It’s totally taken out of context.KARL: It’s not taken out of context.
Here’s the video, Senator Cotton.
“It’s actually much better because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor,” he falsely said. “That’s soldiers.” “They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead,” Trump continued. “But she gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman.”
The Senator continued his lies.
COTTON: The point he was making is that he gives the presidential Medal of Freedom, just like other presidents do, to civilians who have done important things for their nation, but who haven’t sacrificed life and limb. And when you go to a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House and you’re presenting it to a soldier who has sacrificed his body, or to his parents or to his children, or his spouse, that it is of a different order of magnitude. It’s totally out of context. Donald Trump was trying to…
That’s not what Trump did. He claimed the Medal of Freedom was equal to the Congressional Medal of Honor and then claimed the optics were much better for Freedom winners.
KARL: Do you agree that the presidential Medal of Freedom is much better? Those are his words.
COTTON: Jon, you’re totally taking that out of context. Donald Trump was great for our military. He is great for our veterans. Kamala Harris is the one who’s proposed, for instance, to cut the military every single year. Kamala Harris is the one who voted for military cuts when she was in the Senate. Donald trump has utmost respect for our veterans and our troops, and you see that by his record in office.
Cotton continued on with his lies. No one took Trump out of context.
Here’s Dump is making it worse a few days later. POS Trump Tries, Fails, To Fix ‘Medal Of Honor’ Insults
Jonathan Karl gives up the argument, and he should not have. It’s a disservice to journalism and the Medal of Honor winners to put up a mild complaint and then let the guest spew more nonsense until the host moves on to another topic.
Cotton is a bald faced liar. “Taken out of context” is almost never a Trump defense because he repeats his lies many times over and then makes them worse trying to defend them.
Cotton besmirches the US Congress with his enabling behavior.