My son 'wasn't a sucker': Biden demands Trump apologize if he called US troops killed in combat 'losers'
- Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden addressed reports that President Donald Trump called fallen members of the military "suckers" and "losers."
- The reported statements are "disgusting" and the "president should humbly apologize" if they're true, Biden said on Friday.
- The former vice president also made clear that his son served in the military and was not "sucker" for doing so, nor is any other service member.
- "I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes," Trump told reporters on Thursday evening.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden condemned President Donald Trump over reported comments that he called US troops who died in combat "suckers" and "losers."
"Quite frankly, if what is written in The Atlantic is true, it's disgusting," Biden said on Friday, addressing a scathing report published a day earlier that said Trump made those comments about military members who died fighting for the US.
The Atlantic, which cited four sources with knowledge of the conversations, reported the president said he did not want wounded soldiers featured in a military parade because "no one wants to see that" and that Marines who died in World War I were "suckers" and "losers." The outlet reported several other insults from Trump as well.
According to The Atlantic, the commander in chief also questioned those who choose to serve the country, rather than pursue a more lucrative career, asking: "What's in it for them?"
"Duty, honor, country. These are values that drive our service members," Biden said. "It's an all-voluntary outfit."
The former vice president also pointed to his own son's military service to denounce the remarks reported by The Atlantic.
"He wasn't a sucker," Biden said, referring to his son Beau's service during deployments to Kosovo and Iraq. "And the servicemen and women he served with, particularly those who did not come home, were not losers." Beau Biden, who was a major in the Delaware Army National Guard, died of brain cancer at age 46.
"If these statements are true, the president should humbly apologize to every Gold Star mother and father and every Blue Star family that he's denigrated and insulted," Joe Biden added. "Who the heck does he think he is?"
Trump has fervently denied the reports and attacked the news as a "fake story."
"I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes," Trump told reporters on Thursday evening.
Biden, along with other Democrats, said the report fell in line with much of what Trump has previously said about the military.
If true, the report "affirms what most of us believe to be true," Biden said. "Donald Trump is not fit to do the job of president."
"I am not shocked to hear yet more instances of Donald Trump belittling the sacrifices of those who have shown more bravery than he is capable of," Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, said on Friday during a conference call organized by the Biden campaign. Duckworth, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel, lost both her legs from combat wounds in Iraq.
A recent Military Times poll surveying active-duty troops showed Biden 4 percentage points ahead of Trump.