*Florida congresswoman Frederica Wilson said the family of a U.S. service member killed in Niger was “astonished” when President Donald Trump suggested in a phone call that the soldier “must’ve known what he signed up for.”
The Democratic congresswoman told NBC Miami that she heard the president’s comment to Sgt. La David T. Johnson’s widow, Myeshia, on a speakerphone as they traveled together to meet his body on Tuesday.
“He said, ‘But you know he must’ve known what he signed up for,'” Rep. Wilson recounted Trump saying more than once during the call to express his sympathy. According to Wilson, the conversation lasted somewhere from three to five minutes.
“Everyone knows when you go to war you could possibly not come back alive but you don’t remind a grieving widow of that,” Wilson said. “That’s so insensitive.”
Trump “didn’t even remember his name,” Wilson recalled Myeshia Johnson telling her after the call ended, the congresswoman told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Wednesday.
“She hung up the phone and said, ‘He didn’t even remember his name,'” Wilson said. “That’s the hurting part.”
Watch below:
Of course, Trump was quick with his response to Wilson’s recollection, tweeting that the “Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!”
Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2017
But moments after the tweet, Wilson, talking to CNN’s “New Day,” said she also had receipts.
“I’m not the only person that was in the car, and I have proof too, this man is a sick man,” she said. “I have no reason to lie on the president of the United States with a dead soldier in my community.”
Johnson was one of four U.S. service members killed in an ambush by militants in Niger that occurred on Oct. 4. Officials said they were participating in a train-and-advise mission with local forces.
Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens, was found dead after initially being reported as missing after the attack. He was a driver assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Below, coverage of Sgt. La David T. Johnson’s casket arriving at Miami International Airport on Oct. 17, 2017.
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