Vice President Kamala Harris recently repeated an unverified claim that former President Donald Trump had insulted fallen military personnel by referring to them as “suckers and losers.” This accusation, which originated from a left-wing publication called The Atlantic, has since been refuted by numerous eyewitnesses. Furthermore, many have noted the irony of Harris’ claims when she herself failed to reach out to Gold Star families who lost their relatives in the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan—families that continue to support Trump.
Despite the lack of evidence supporting these allegations, Atlantic’s fabricated story has persisted and even been repeated by high-profile figures such as Vice President Harris. It is particularly troubling that moderators from ABC News, including David Muir and Linsey Davis, consistently fact-checked statements made by Trump but failed to do the same when it came to Harris’ false claims about Trump’s attitude towards fallen military personnel.
It should also be noted that this wasn’t the first time Harris has attacked Trump over his past comments about Sen. John McCain (R-AZ. The accusations stem from a joke made by Trump in reference to McCain, which occurred after McCain had publicly criticized Trump and his supporters. Interestingly, Democrats initially mocked and demonized McCain during the 2008 election but later switched their stance when they realized that he could be used as an effective “Never Trump” figure against Donald Trump.
Overall, it is clear that Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent claims regarding Trump’s treatment of military personnel are baseless and without merit. Furthermore, the failure of moderators to correct these falsehoods demonstrates a troubling double standard in fact-checking, as they were more concerned with scrutinizing Trump’s statements than those made by others.