Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) appeared on CNN’s New Day Wednesday morning following her claims that President Trump finally called the pregnant widow of one of the Green Berets killed in Niger, U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson, only to offer a half-hearted “he knew what he signed up for” — making things even worse if true. Trump unsurprisingly lashed out at the congresswoman early Wednesday morning prior to her appearance, tweeting, “Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!”
Wilson was not having it, though. When host Alisyn Camerota asked for a response to the president’s tweet, the congresswoman said, “Well, I don’t know what kind of proof he could be talking about, I’m not the only person that was in the car, and I have proof too.” “This man is a sick man,” she continued. “He’s cold-hearted, and he feel no pity or sympathy for anyone. This is a grieving widow, a grieving widow who is six months pregnant.”
She continued, “When she actually hung up the phone, she looked at me and said, ‘He didn’t even know his name!’ Now that’s the worst part.”
Rep. Frederica Wilson pushes back on @NewDay. "I have proof too…This man is a sick man." Trump "has no sympathy." https://t.co/bKJ4UR3XEr
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 18, 2017
Wilson said there were multiple people in the car who heard Trump: aunt, an uncle, master sergeant, her aide. Says Trump is "lying"
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 18, 2017
Later in the segment, after Wilson declared that the tragedy “might wind up to be Trump’s Benghazi,” she was asked if she was also possibly guilty politicizing Johnson’s death by publicizing a private phone call — as Trump has since dragged General Kelly’s deceased son into the fray. “When I got out of the car someone asked me a question, and I answered the question. I was done,” Wilson replied. “I’m concerned about why he died, why wasn’t he protected? Why was he left 24 hours without anyone finding him, was he captured? Was he murdered? What happened to him? That’s concerned about.”
When asked about Trump’s so-called “proof” of what took place during the phone call, Wilson pulled no punches. “I’m not trying to prove anything with the president, so the president evidently is lying, because what I said is true,” she said. “I have no reason to lie [to] the President of the United States with a dead soldier in my community. I have no time, I have no motive.”
You can watch the full segment below: