Former President and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump sought to clarify his controversial comments about the Medal of Honor last week over the weekend. He called the military award “the highest” honor America can bestow, but also pointed to the physical sacrifices made by soldiers to earn it and how “painful it is to receive it.”
Trump faced criticism from veterans groups and Democratic leaders after comparing the nation’s highest military award to the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a campaign rally in New Jersey last Thursday.
“It’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor,” Trump said of the civilian Medal of Freedom. “But the civilian version is actually much better because everyone who receives the Congressional Medal of Honor is a soldier. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit by bullets so many times, or they’re dead.”
More: Trump angers veterans: Civilian award is “much better” than the Medal of Honor
In an interview with WBRE in Pennsylvania a few days later, Trump said his “better” comment had been misunderstood.
“When I say better, I mean in a sense getting it, because the people who get the Congressional Medal of Honor, which I have awarded to many, are often terribly wounded or dead,” he said. “They are often dead. They get it posthumously.”
“And when you get the (military) medal, I always consider it the greatest thing, but it’s painful to get it. When you get the Presidential Medal of Freedom, it’s usually for other things, like great achievements in sports or elsewhere.”
According to U.S. Department of Defense regulations, the Medal of Honor is awarded to military personnel who have distinguished themselves “by outstanding gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their lives above and beyond the call of duty.”
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded at the discretion of the Commander in Chief to “individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the security or national interests of America, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
During his time in office, Trump awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery on the battlefield nine times, two of them posthumously. He awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom 24 times.
On Monday, Trump’s former chief of staff and retired Marine General John Kelly told CNN that the two medals had “no equivalence whatsoever” and criticized Trump for his previous comments.
Representatives of the Veterans of Foreign Wars called Trump’s comments “idiotic” in a statement and said they “not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also starkly portray the sacrifices of those who risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty.”
Speakers at the Democratic Party convention on Monday evening also criticized Trump for his comments, calling them the latest in a long line of disrespectful remarks by the former commander-in-chief.
This content is provided through a partnership between El Paso Times and Military Times.
