President Donald Trump called for Fox News host Jennifer Griffin to be fired on Friday after reporting on his disparaging commentary about U.S. Military service members. Griffin was able to independently verify the explosive report from The Atlantic this week, in which multiple Trump administration sources detailed the president’s commentary on veterans and soldiers. So far, Fox has not stated an intention of firing Griffin.
Trump shared an article about Griffin from the self-described alt-right website Breitbart. He tweeted: “Jennifer Griffin should be fired for this kind of reporting. Never even called us for comment. [Fox News] is gone!” The post stirred up even more outrage over Trump’s comments, where he called fallen soldiers “losers” and “suckers,” insiders say. Griffin has not responded to the president, and has been absent from Twitter ever since she shared her findings there.
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Jennifer Griffin of Fox News Did Not Confirm ‘Most Salacious‘ Part of Atlantic Story https://t.co/rUpbSWhHac via @BreitbartNews All refuted by many witnesses. Jennifer Griffin should be fired for this kind of reporting. Never even called us for comment. @FoxNews is gone!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2020
Trump’s fury stems from an Atlantic article published on Thursday, which included quotes where the president demeaned the honor and intelligence of military service members — particularly those who had died, been captured or wounded. He reportedly tried to keep wounded veterans out of military parades, and declined to visit the cemetery of fallen soldiers, since he saw them as the “losers” of their fights.
These stories were sourced from White House officials, as were Griffin’s examples as well. In response, Trump has simply labeled these reports as lies, with no regard for the journalistic vetting process.
However, Trump has been candid on the record when it comes to mocking military personnel, with a tone that matches some of the quotes from the articles. During his presidential campaign in 2015, he was asked about Sen. John McCain in an interview and responded by saying: “I like people who weren’t captured,” according to a report by The BBC.
According to one former senior Trump administration official: “When the President spoke about the Vietnam War, he said, ‘It was a stupid war. Anyone who went was a sucker’.”
— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) September 4, 2020
Despite this well-known quote, Trump denied having ever disparaged McCain in another string of tweets on Friday. He wrote: “I was never a big fan of John McCain, disagreed with him on many things… but the lowering of our Nations American Flags, and the first class funeral he was given by our Country, had to be approved by me, as President, & I did so without hesitation or complaint.”
“Also, I never called John a loser and swear on whatever, or whoever, I was asked to swear on, that I never called our great fallen soldiers anything other than HEROES,” he added later. So far, none of the reporting by either The Atlantic or Fox News has been legitimately called into question.
