Of all of the controversial things Donald Trump has said in the wake of the Parkland school shooting, his claim on Monday that he, personally — the brave hero that he is — would have “run into the school” unarmed to save students from the gunman is by far the most outlandish. The very idea that a man who received multiple draft deferments would willingly put himself in harm’s way aside, most of us couldn’t exactly picture the president “running” anywhere.
This was the topic of conversation on CNN Monday night between Don Lemon and The Truth About Trump author Michael D’Antonio. “Oh, I’m sure he would,” joked Antonio. “What would he get, 10 feet before he’d have to stop and catch his breath? This is a 71-year-old man who had four deferments when he could have served in the Vietnam War with a gun in his hand, but instead he chose not to.”
Lemon then pointed out that past actions may determine how you’d actually react in similar circumstances, and of course he brought receipts. In a 2008 interview on The Howard Stern Show, Trump told a charming anecdote about an 80-year-old man who passed out on stage at a charity event in Mar-A-Lago, and how — instead of offering to help the man — he was disgusted by the sight of his blood.
“So what happens is this guy falls off right on his face, hits his head and I thought he died,” Trump recalled. “And you know what I did? I said, ‘Oh my god that’s disgusting’ and I turned away. I couldn’t, you know, he was right in front of me and I turned away. I didn’t want to touch him.”
While all his rich friends covered their eyes and turned their backs on the bleeding man, a bunch of Marines apparently rushed from the back of the room and created a human stretcher to help get him to safety. “You would never do that,” asked Stern. “I was saying, ‘Get that blood cleaned up, it’s disgusting,'” Trump quipped. He then admitted that he forgot to even call and check in on the man the next day because it’s not “his thing.”
As is often the case, the president’s words speak for themselves.