The Atlantic, a clearly left-leaning news outlet, has decided it’s time for all hands on deck, as they put out a hit piece against former President Donald Trump just two weeks removed from the general election, accusing him of disparaging a slain U.S. Army private back in 2020. Hilariously, leftists are the ones who have traditionally slammed members of our military and have forced them to get vaccinated against their wishes, along with getting them killed in botched troop withdrawals.
They always seem to forget all of that. Convenient, right?
The story in question was penned by the publication’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, and makes the claim that the 45th president “became angry” when he discovered how much the funeral for soldier Vanessa Guillen would cost. Guillen, 20, is the daughter of Mexican immigrants, and was murdered by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood in April 2020. After she died, Trump talked with the surviving members of her family at the White House and offered to pay for the funeral, according to Fox News.
Here’s more from The Daily Wire:
Goldberg cites “attendees” and “contemporaneous notes of the meeting taken by a participant” to report that Trump fumed when he learned how much the family billed the White House for the funeral. According to The Atlantic, Trump responded by telling his staff, “It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a f***ing Mexican!” Goldberg then wrote that the then-president ordered his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, not to pay the bill. Natalie Khawam, the Guillén family’s attorney, responded to The Atlantic’s story on X, accusing Goldberg of lying and exploiting her clients “for cheap political gain.”
“After having dealt with hundreds of reporters in my legal career, this is unfortunately the first time I have to go on record and call out Jeffrey Goldberg@the Atlantic: not only did he misrepresent our conversation but he outright LIED in HIS sensational story,” Khawam stated in his response. “More importantly, he used and exploited my clients, and Vanessa Guillen’s murder… for cheap political gain.”
“I would like to also point out that the timing of this ‘story’ is quite suspicious, as this supposed conversation that Trump had would have occurred over 4 years ago! Why a story about it now?!” she continued. “As everyone knows, not only did Trump support our military, he also invited my clients to the Oval Office and supported the I Am Vanessa Guillen bill too.”
Guillén’s sister, Mayra, also responded to The Atlantic piece and defended Trump, writing, “Wow. I don’t appreciate how you are exploiting my sister’s death for politics- hurtful & disrespectful to the important changes she made for service members. President Donald Trump did nothing but show respect to my family & Vanessa. In fact, I voted for President Trump today.”
Even though the Guillen family came out lightning quick with a refutation of Goldberg’s story, it already gained significant attention from the mainstream media with outlets like CBS News giving it coverage. Not long after it was published, Guillen’s family put Goldberg and his “sensational story” on blast.
'CBS Evening News' anchor Norah O'Donnell opened the show with The Atlantic story:
"Two weeks from Election Day, as the final battleground sprint is underway. Every hour matters for these candidates as they try to reach as many voters as possible in the key states that will… pic.twitter.com/ki6qjVU1QW
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 23, 2024
Meadows also offered some push back on the claims made in the article.
“I was in the discussions featured in the Atlantic’s latest hit piece against President Trump. Let me say this. Any suggestion that President Trump disparaged Ms. Guillen or refused to pay for her funeral expenses is absolutely false,” Meadows stated. “He was nothing but kind, gracious, and wanted to make sure that the military and the U.S. government did right by Vanessa Guillen and her family.”
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