PITTSBURGH – Chairman Joe Biden got choked up Wednesday talking about the military service of his relatives and former president Donald Trump‘s disparaging comments about soldiers.
“They asked [Trump] to visit American graves. He said no.’ He wouldn’t do it. Because they were all ‘suckers’ and ‘losers,’” Biden told a crowd of union workers. “I’m not making that up. The staff who were with him recognize it today. Suckers and losers.”
He paused and added, “That man does not deserve to have been the commander-in-chief of my son, my uncle.” Beau Biden and Ambrose Finnegan both served in the military before Trump took office.
Biden’s comments referenced Trump’s 2018 trip to Paris to mark the centenary of the end of World War I, when he refused to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and reportedly called Marines who died at Belleau Wood “suckers” and cases soldiers at the American cemetery. “losers.”
Former White House chief of staff John Kelly confirmed last year that Trump made the comments privately, which were first reported by The Atlantic.
In response to a request for comment, the Trump campaign denied that Trump made the comments cited by Biden.
“Joe Biden is repeating an old and tired lie about President Trump to get away from the fact that he is the weakest commander in chief in history,” National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “When President Trump is back in the White House, he will rebuild our military and restore peace.”
Biden has often cited Trump’s 2018 comments, but Wednesday marked the first time he linked them directly to his son and his uncle.
On Tuesday, Biden called Trump’s comments “offensive” at a campaign rally in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, showing anger toward Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
“He said the soldiers who gave their lives were … ‘suckers’ and ‘losers,’” Biden said. “Who does he think he is?”
“These soldiers are heroes, just like every American who has served this nation,” Biden said to loud applause.
Biden, who was in Pittsburgh for the second stop of a three-city tour of Pennsylvania, said he was reminded of Trump’s comments about military personnel while visiting a war memorial in Scranton.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
