Trump loves Trump more than anything else. Those who worked in the White House have witnessed this narcissistic personality up close.

General John Kelly served as Donald Trump’s White House Chief of Staff from 2017 to 2019. Prior to this position, he was the Secretary of Homeland Security. He was easily confirmed, with a vote of 88-11, showing bipartisan support for Kelly. At the time, he was a retired US Marine Corp General, with an outstanding record. A short bio is given in the following Wikipedia link: John F. Kelly . In 2020, Kelly was quoted in an Atlantic article as follows:

“A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them,'” Kelly said of Trump. “A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family — for all Gold Star families — on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.”

See link: NBC News, Oct 2023, John Kelly confirms Trump privately disparaged U.S. service members and veterans

During the 2024 Biden-Trump debate, Trump denied making these statements.

Yesterday, another close ally of Trump, Stephanie Grisham, former White House Press Secretary, addressed the Democratic National Convention in support of candidate Kamala Harris. She was in many ways, Trump’s “defender/explainer” typically on Fox News and the conservative online website, Washington Examiner. See her bio from Wikipedia.

Her short presentation at the DNC last night, was from someone who had been in the room when the cameras were not rolling.

Selected quotes: “Behind closed doors, Trump mocks his supporters. He calls them basement dwellers.” Obviously, he knew he appealed to naïve or poorly informed voters, who would accept his lies.

“On a hospital visit when people were dying in the ICU, he was mad the cameras were not watching him.”

“He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth.”

“Kamala Harris … has my vote.”

Just days prior to Grisham’s few minutes at the podium, Trump really did show his lack of empathy in his comments on the Medal of Honor:

Trump said the civilian award [Medal of Freedom] is “actually much better because everyone [who] gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead.” Speaking about Miriam Adelson, Trump said: “She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman, and they’re rated equal, but she got the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”

Mariam Adelson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018. She and her husband were the largest donors of Trump throughout his presidency; they provided the largest donation to his 2016 campaign, his presidential inauguration, his defense fund against the Mueller investigation into Russian interference and the 2020 campaign.

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the largest veterans advocacy group in the U.S., criticized the statement on Friday. VFW National Commander Al Lipphardt said: “These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also crassly characterized the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty.”

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So, you don’t have to accept John Kelly or Stephie Grisham statements. Trump has already confirmed his lack of empathy. His dishonesty is firmly established as fact checkers are tallying up his lies per minute everytime he speaks at a rally.

Representative Crockett added a bit of levity to the ceremonies, in her comparison of Harris’ and Trump’s resumes, as if the electorate had to decide which one to hire.

“Kamala Harris has a resume, Donald Trump has a rap sheet.”

And in 2024, MAGA means “Make attorneys get attorneys” with a long list of Trump’s legal advisors are being disbarred or have been indicted. Steve Bannon (not an attorney) goes on trial in September. And Donald Trump will be sentenced in September after the jury found him guilty in the hush money case. His sentence will likely be suspended pending an appeal.

Trump is not fit to be the next President of the United States. Kamala Harris is.

Stay tuned,

Dave