While stumping for the GOP in Dubuque, Iowa, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump told a rally gathering—crowd being too generous a term—all about his amazing abilities as a military leader, despite being the third generation of his family to actively avoid serving his country.
In a rambling monologue, Trump said:
"Vietnam, 21 years, thousands and thousands of people killed, hundreds of thousands of people killed. Afghanistan, years and years… we never fought to win."
"I could have won the Vietnam War in a week, you know. They dropped whatever the hell that red crap is that they…kept dropping it in the forest."
You can see Trump boast about his military prowess here:
After someone in the crowd yelled out what that "crap" was, Trump added:
"Agent Orange,even though it's red. Agent Orange, they drop it in the forest for years and years and years, instead of going after Ho Chi Minh City and the different places."
The herbicide "Agent Orange" was neither orange nor red, nor given its nickname because of the substance's color.
The mixture of dichlorophenoxyacetic and trichlorophenoxyacetic acids' wartime name came from the orange stripe painted on the 55-gallon drums it came in. It was part of a series of color-coded tactical defoliants used by the military and included Agent White, Agent Blue, Agent Pink, Agent Green, and Agent Purple—each identified by the color on its container.
Ho Chi Minh City, known as Saigon during the Vietnam War, was the capital of South Vietnam, the seat of the government backed by the United States forces. Hanoi was the capital of North Vietnam, which was backed by the Soviet Union and China.
Despite clearly being confused on his facts and geography, Trump added:
"I would have won that war in one week."
Hunter Biden, who after years of being attacked by the GOP has clearly taken the gloves off now that he's sober and his father is no longer President, made a few pointed remarks on social media regarding Trump's Iowa MAGA rally claims.
The son of former Democratic Senator, Vice President, and President Joe Biden wrote:
"Last night Trump said he could have won Vietnam in a week. His plan was 'going after Ho Chi Minh City.' Ho Chi Minh City was Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. Our ally. The enemy’s capital was Hanoi. We bombed it."
"He called the presidents who fought that war stupid, then explained how he’d have won it by attacking our own side. 58,220 Americans died in that war. Trump got five deferments. Now he’s telling the rest of us how easy it would have been."
"He’s had more than fifty years to learn which side we were on. He still hasn’t. That alone should disqualify him from sending anybody else’s kids to war. Instead, he’s weighing more strikes on Iran after Tuesday. His administration has reportedly considered using the 'mother of all bombs,' the one he calls 'like a tiny nuclear bomb.'"
"The man who thinks we should have bombed our ally’s capital gets to choose the targets."
Perhaps Trump would have known who the United States allies and enemies were in Vietnam if he'd participated there instead of fighting his own "personal Vietnam" against sexually transmitted diseases, as he claimed in 1993 and again 1997.
Or perhaps Trump got his history lessons from Russian President Vladimir Putin or Chinese President Xi Jinping, who would have both called North Vietnam their ally.
Either way, people found "draft dodger" Trump's latest boast about his acumen for military strategy absurd.
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While Trump was supposed to be bolstering Republicans' chances in the midterms, most of his MAGA rallies have devolved into a string of non sequiturs about his personal gripes, denial of reality, and bragging about how great he is.
Whether that strategy works for the GOP will become evident as the votes are counted and results come in.
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