Donald Trump came under fire Monday for telling an audience of veterans that "a lot of people can't handle" post-traumatic stress when they return from combat duty.
During a question-and-answer session with Retired American Warriors, a political action committee, in Herndon, Va., the GOP presidential nominee noted: "People come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over," Stars and Stripes reported.
"And you're strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can't handle it," he told the audience.
Twitter posters blasted Trump's answer as stigmatizing vets with PTSD — and implying they're weak.
Ana Marie Cox, a columnist at MTV News and for the New York Times Magazine, tweeted Trump was "betraying reflexive bias."
Eduardo Colon, a veteran, tweeted in a reply to Cox:
Army vet Max Rosenthal, a reporter with Mother Jones, tweeted:
Stars and Stripes reported a VA page on PTSD facts ends with: "Getting help for PTSD is problem solving, not a sign of weakness."