The widow of a dead US soldier says President Trump could not remember her husband’s name when he phoned to offer condolences.
Myeshia Johnson, widow of Sgt La David Johnson, told ABC News the president’s “stumbling” had “hurt her the most”. “If my husband is out here fighting for our country and he risks his life for our country, why can’t you remember his name?” she added. Sgt La David Johnson was killed in Niger by Islamist militants this month. President Trump’s call of condolence made headlines when congresswoman Frederica Wilson – who heard it with the family – accused him of insensitivity. Myeshia Johnson appeared to confirm Ms Wilson’s assertion that Mr Trump had told her her husband had known what he had signed up for when joining the military. “The president said that he knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyways… It made me cry because I was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said it,” she said.
“He had my husband’s report in front of him, and that’s when he actually said La David. I heard him stumbling on trying to remember my husband’s name.” President Trump has disputed the account of the call given by Ms Wilson and he also defended himself on Twitter on Monday morning, writing: “I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!” Sgt Johnson was one of four US special forces soldiers who died in an ambush on 4 October.
Mr Trump had already been criticised for not contacting the families of the dead servicemen right after they were killed. He responded to the criticism by falsely claiming that his predecessor, Barack Obama, and other former US presidents had not called the relatives of dead service members.
The White House said Mr Trump’s conversations with the families of dead servicemen were private.
