On Friday, ahead of Donald Trump’s visit to the Hampton Roads area, Democratic Party of Virginia Chair Susan Swecker, Chair of the DNC Veterans and Military Families Council and Army veteran Terron Sims II, and chair of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee and Air Force veteran Sean Monteiro called out Trump for his long record of disrespecting Americans in uniform, including referring to those killed in service as “suckers” and “losers” and his work with Republican extremists to cut veterans’ benefits as president, which would have an outsized impact on the Hampton Roads area — home to nearly 120,000 active duty military members and 220,000 veterans. During last night’s debate, President Biden called out Trump for his attacks on veterans — and Trump lied directly to the American people about the soldiers he disrespected.
As Trump continues to promise to be a dictator if reelected and refused three times to say he would accept the results of the election, the speakers highlighted the threat a second Trump term — with MAGA Republican policies — poses to our democracy and our freedoms that veterans and fallen soldiers have fought for.
“Donald Trump’s record, his rhetoric, and his actions have all proved that he is against everything that our military stands for and works to protect,” said DPVA Chair Susan Swecker. “There is only one man on the ballot in November who has stood up for veterans time and again. That man is Joe Biden, a father who knows what it feels like to have a son fighting for his country, and a president who has delivered the most significant expansion of benefits and services for veterans.”
“President Biden and Democrats are working to protect freedom and defend democracy, and standing up against aggression abroad and hate at home,” said Sean Monteiro, Air Force veteran and chair of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee. “Donald Trump only cares about himself – and, with the backing of his MAGA Republican allies, he’s willing to insult service members and destroy the very ideals of democracy in his own pursuit of personal power, revenge, and retribution. We have to defeat Trump and MAGA Republicans once and for all — so he doesn’t have a chance to do any more damage to our democracy and our values as a country.”
“My deployment in Baghdad was the greatest honor of my life — in large part because it was so important to me to be a part of something greater than myself. Donald Trump will never understand that feeling because all he thinks about is himself. He’s a disgrace to veterans and military families,” said Terron Sims II, Chair of the DNC Veterans and Military Families Council and Army veteran. “Veterans deserve a president who cares about us. That person is Joe Biden and that’s why I’m supporting him and Democrats up and down the ballot in November.”
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