The Daily Show had social media users cheering after posting a faux tribute to former President Donald Trump, recalling the many times he's disrespected members of the military, particularly the "suckers and losers" who die in combat.
From the start, the video highlights a 2020 report from The Atlantic after Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, near Paris, in 2018. At the time, four individuals with direct knowledge of the situation revealed that Trump declined the visit due to concerns about his hair being affected by the rain and a lack of importance placed on honoring American war dead.
During discussions with senior staff members on the morning of the planned visit, Trump questioned the necessity of visiting the cemetery, referring to it as "filled with losers." Additionally, on the same trip, he reportedly referred to the over 1,800 marines who perished at Belleau Wood as "suckers" for losing their lives.
The video also includes footage of a grieving widow who said Trump couldn't "remember [her] husband's name" as well as a report that the Trump Foundation was fined $2 million for misusing charity funds that should have gone to help military veterans. Additionally, it includes footage of Trump discrediting the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden, saying bin Laden should have been caught "much sooner."
And perhaps most notably, the video shows footage of Trump mocking the late Arizona Republican Senator John McCain, who spent five and a half years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam from 1967 to 1973.
Trump once infamously said that McCain was "not a war hero," adding:
"I like people who weren’t captured."
After pointing out a few of Trump's other transgressions—including his meetings as president with Taliban negotiators—the video ends with the following message:
"Remembering President Trump: Troop Respecter-in-Chief."
You can see the video below.
People loved the snarkiness and called out Trump in response.
The Daily Show's faux tribute came after Trump spent Memorial Day—a holiday meant to honor fallen soldiers—criticizing Judge Arthur Engoron, who presided over Trump’s fraud trial, and Judge Juan Merchan, who is currently presiding over his ongoing criminal election interference trial.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote a post partly directed towards Lewis Kaplan, the judge presiding over a civil trial initiated by writer E Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of rape and subsequent defamation:
“Happy Memorial Day to All, including the Human Scum that is working so hard to destroy our Once Great Country, & to the Radical Left, Trump Hating Federal Judge in New York that presided over, get this, TWO separate trials, that awarded a woman, who I never met before (a quick handshake at a celebrity event, 25 years ago, doesn’t count!), 91 MILLION DOLLARS for ‘DEFAMATION.'"
Trump later referred to Engoron as “the [New York] state wacko judge who fined me 500 Million Dollars (UNDER APPEAL) for DOING NOTHING WRONG” before adding:
“Now for Merchan!”
You can see his post below
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
Meanwhile, in stark contrast to Trump, President Joe Biden did what he always does on Memorial Day, which is to honor the fallen.
During a ceremony held at Arlington National Cemetery, Biden drew parallels to his own family's experience of national sacrifice, reflecting on his son Beau's death from brain cancer nine years prior, attributing it to his exposure to burn pits during his military service in Iraq.
Biden said "the hurt is still real, still raw," stressing his son's personal belief in his "duty" to his country.
"Duty, that was the code of my son live by and the creed all of you live by — the creed that generations of service members have followed into battle. On the grounds around us lie fallen heroes from every major conflict in history, to defend our independence, to preserve our union, to defeat fascism, to build powerful alliances, forged in the fires of two world wars."
