TO THE EDITOR:
I am writing in response to your Oct. 18 editorial, "Trumped Up Scandal." I agree it was trumped up, but by whom? This all began with a question to President Trump regarding a failure of the White House (after 14 days) to mention or acknowledge the fact that we (the U.S.) has lost four servicemen in Niger. He responded by saying his predecessors had not notified next of kin, which was, for the most part, untrue, and did not answer the question.
In dealing with what ensued after that, I feel that there is ample blame to go around and should be assigned correctly irrespective of political ideology or personal preference. I will admit that I disagree with most or all of what President Trump says or does. In spite of the fact he vehemently denies having said what he is accused of (a fact that appears to have been contradicted by Gen. Kelly), I do not believe he meant to be inappropriate or hurtful to the family. I will further concede that the congresswoman's decision could have, and maybe should have, been handled differently as to whether of not she should have listened in (the president implies eavesdropped) on the conversation. But that is not a call for the president or Gen. Kelly to make. Sgt. Johnson's widow chose to put the president on speaker which indicates to me that she considered everyone in the car family. And that was her call to make.
With regard to Gen. Kelly, as chief of staff, to my mind was quite appropriate for him to attempt to calm the waters, and he began with an impassioned explanation of the process followed in the death of a serviceman. This had to be gut-wrenching for him, as it was framed around the loss of his son. But his attacks on Congresswoman Wilson (whom he had never even called by name) were inexcusable. And the accusations made prove to be false. So, it appears that the dog bit President Trump is growling at Gen. Kelly.
Floy Gulley
Texarkana, Texas