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Trump army ‘service’ under fresh scrutiny
WASHINGTON: As Donald Trump insults and attacks Khizr and Ghazala Khan, parents of a fallen Muslim-American soldier, his own multiple deferments from military service
WASHINGTON: As Donald Trump insults and attacks Khizr and Ghazala Khan, parents of a fallen Muslim-American soldier, his own multiple deferments from military service are facing fresh scrutiny.
But despite the waning support and sharp criticism from across the political divide, Trump hit the campaign trail with a new term for his Democratic rival: The Devil.
Speaking in Pennsylvania , he derided Bernie Sanders’ capitulation and decision to support Hillary Clinton.
Sanders, he said, “made a deal with the devil. She’s the devil.”
According to a report in the New York Times, between 1964 and 1968, Trump received four deferments for ongoing education, and one, after he had finished studies, for bone-spurs on his heels. Saved by the spurs, protrusions caused by a pile-up of calcium that can be treated, Trump stayed home as men his age were shipped to Vietnam to fight a war that US would lose.
In earlier accounts, Trump claimed he was saved by getting lucky in the draft lottery — he drew a number that took him way back of the queue of those to deploy before him.
The NYT report said Trump’s “public statements about his draft experience sometimes conflict with his Selective Service records, and he is often hazy in recalling details”.
Evading conscription had not derailed presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton and George W Bush, but Trump faces extra scrutiny because of his attacks on the Khans.
Calling Trump “unfit” to serve as president, President Barack Obama on Tuesday challenged Republican leaders to repudiate their nominee.
So far, only Richard Hanna, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, has done so. He said Tuesday he would be voting for Clinton, becoming the first congressman to cross the party line.
Polls show Americans do indeed believe Trump will do better than Clinton in fixing the economy. Clinton, whose poll numbers are up by between 3 and 9 points, tried to address this gap by undertaking a bus tour of areas hit hard by unemployment. Her campaign is also trying to undercut Trump’s appeal as a businessman. Warren Buffet, the man often called the richest in the world, appeared with Clinton at a campaign event on Monday and challenged Trump to release his tax records.
Clinton is leading Trump in all major polls and holds a 4.4-point lead over him in the RealClearPolitics average, but has failed to widen the gap despite Trump’s growing list of blunders.
