Congresswoman accuses Trump of making an 'insensitive' remark to widow of fallen soldier

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/CBS News)

published 18 October 2017

A Florida congresswoman is upset over a comment President Trump made to the widow of U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson, one of the four troops killed earlier this month when they were ambushed by Islamist militants in Niger.

Rep. Frederica Wilson (D) told Local 10 News that Trump called Myeshia Johnson on Tuesday afternoon and they spoke for about five minutes, with Trump at one point telling Johnson: "He knew what he signed up for ... but when it happens it hurts anyway." "Yes, he said it," Wilson said. "It's so insensitive. He should have not said that. He shouldn't have said it." Myeshia Johnson is pregnant and due in January, and has two other children with her late husband, a 6-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son. After the phone call with Trump, Myeshia Johnson, her family, and friends went to Miami International Airport to wait for the Delta flight to arrive carrying her husband's flag-covered casket.

La David Johnson, 25, was a Walmart employee before becoming a member of the 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Details surrounding the ambush that killed him on Oct. 4 are still murky, but the troops reportedly did not have any air cover and were in unarmored trucks when the attack took place. Trump has come under fire for not saying anything about the deaths or the botched mission, and he tried to turn things around by erroneously telling reporters that former President Barack Obama didn't call the families of fallen troops; he later tried to backtrack, saying Obama "probably did sometimes" call and "maybe sometimes he didn't. I don't know. That's what I was told." Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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