Donald Trump Jr

 

On Veterans Day, Iraq War Veteran Paul Rieckhoff criticized first son Donald Trump Jr. for comparing business deals his family gave up so his father could be president with the sacrifices Veterans made.

"Don Jr. is of age, if he really wants to understand what sacrifice is all about, he can join the military," Rieckhoff told CNN New Day host John Berman.

In a segment of his new book, Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us, Trump Jr. described a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. While his father, then-President-Elect Donald Trump, stood in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Army played "Taps," which is performed at military funerals, Trump Jr. said he thought about his family's sacrifices.

"In that moment, I also thought of all the attacks we'd already suffered as a family, and about all the sacrifices we'd have to make to help my father succeed—voluntarily giving up a huge chunk of our business and all international deals to avoid the appearance that we were 'profiting off the office,'" Trump Jr. wrote, according to Axios.

Rieckhoff, who founded the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) organization, told Berman this was an example of how the president and his family are "tone-deaf about what it means to serve." While he acknowledged there are many different ways to serve your country, he called comparing losing business deals to the Veterans buried at Arlington "ridiculous."

"Unfortunately, that's the kind of tone that's permeated the last three years of this administration," Rieckhoff said.

Rieckhoff wasn't alone in finding Trump Jr. comparing his own experience to those who served in the military to be inappropriate. Veteran Army Major Richard Ojeda posted on Twitter that the first son should be "banned from that hallowed ground."

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