President Donald Trump took questions earlier today and the subject of his calls to the families of fallen soldiers came up again, but this time the president had a question of his own for the media:
Trump on his claim other presidents didn’t call the families of fallen soldiers: "You could ask General Kelly if he got a call from Obama."
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 17, 2017
Reporters quickly jumped on the president for bringing chief of staff John Kelly, who lost his son in Afghanistan in 2010, into the mix:
Other question is how Kelly feels having his son's death used in this way. He may be unhappy with Obama, or may not https://t.co/sLgrLH5SiB
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 17, 2017
DHS source told me Kelly very sensitive to politicization of son's death; pushed back on WH attempts to highlight angel moms on immigration https://t.co/eObV8eEkev
— David Nakamura (@DavidNakamura) October 17, 2017
Kelly, a man of honor & decency, should stop this inane cruelty. He saw up-close just how—& how much—Obama cared for the fallen’s families. https://t.co/5NPTKHsd1Z
— Ned Price (@nedprice) October 17, 2017
But it seems pretty clear from the latest out of the White House that Gen. Kelly is the one now confirming that Obama never called.
NBC News:
JUST IN: President Obama did not call Gen. John Kelly when his son was killed in Afghanistan in 2010, White House official tells NBC News
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) October 17, 2017
Fox News:
Following this statement from @realDonaldTrump -“You could ask Gen. Kelly, did he get a call from Obama? I don’t know what Obama’s policy was.” Sr Admin official confirms President Obama did not make a condolence call to Gen Kelly on death of his son in 2010 in Afghanistan
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) October 17, 2017
AP:
New: WH official says Obama didn't call Kelly after son killed; no immediate word if he reached out in other fashion https://t.co/rDb48LkGUI
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) October 17, 2017
Now let’s see if we can make this a three-day story.
Update. It will be a three-day story. Now there are reports that Sarah Huckabee Sanders was the WH official speaking off-the-record:
Sarah Huckabee Sanders is an official confirming on background that Obama didn't call Kelly, per a person familiar (not at BuzzFeed News)
— Steven Perlberg (@perlberg) October 17, 2017
And two, Kelly reportedly sat at Obama’s table during a 2011 Gold Star families event:
Gen. Kelly and wife attended Gold Star families breakfast at WH in 2011 and sat at Mrs. Obama's table, person familiar with breakfast says.
— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) October 17, 2017
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Related:
The WaPost fact-checked if Obama actually called the families of fallen soldiers, but there's a twist! https://t.co/Ua5O2viNS0
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 17, 2017
