Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden used a disputed story about rival Donald Trump’s comments regarding military veterans to try to bolster his standing with the group during a campaign visit to Florida on Tuesday.
"Nowhere are his faults more glaring or offensive to me, at least, as when it comes to his denigration of our service members, veterans, wounded warriors, the fallen," Biden said in a speech during a stop in Tampa. "Quite frankly, it makes me very upset the way he gets in front of a camera and crows about how much he does for our vets and then calls them 'suckers' and 'losers.'"
The reference was to a story in The Atlantic on Sept. 3 that quoted anonymous sources claiming Trump disparaged American war dead during a trip to France in 2018. Trump has denied he made the remarks and former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has excoriated the president in his recently published book and was on the trip, called The Atlantic claims “simply false.”
Biden’s speech was followed by a roundtable as he apparently tries to capitalize on reports that Trump’s support among military and former military members has slipped from 2016.
A Military Times poll in August showed among its readers, Biden led Trump 41.3% to 37.4%, while a Monmouth University poll released Tuesday show Trump with a 50-46 lead among veterans in Florida.
Trump received 61% of the veteran vote in 2016 compared to 34% for Hillary Clinton.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.