On Wednesday, President Donald Trump and his camp attacked the Florida congresswoman who called Trump out for the remarks he made to the widow of a fallen soldier, with White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee calling her “appalling and disgusting” for her story.
Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson said that Trump was “so insensitive” in his remarks to the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, who died in the ambush in Niger. According to Wilson, Trump told Myeshia Johnson that her husband “he knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt.”
Wilson said that Myeshia “broke down” after the call with the president and claimed on CNN’s “New Day” that Trump didn’t even know Johnson’s name.
However, Trump has flatly denied Wilson’s claims both on Twitter and in a statement at the White House.
— Black women shouldn’t have to choose between race and gender —
“I didn’t say what that congresswoman said. Didn’t say it at all,” Trump told reporters. “She knows it. And she now is not saying it. I did not say what she said.”
Sanders also came after Wilson, saying that the congresswoman was the one who deserved the public’s ire.
“I think it is appalling what the congresswoman has done and the way she has politicized this issue and the way she is trying to make this about something that it isn’t,” Sanders said Wednesday. “This was a President who loves our country very much, who has the greatest level of respect for men and women in uniform and wanted to call and offer condolences to the family.”
“And I think to try to create something from that that the congresswoman is doing is frankly appalling and disgusting,” she added.
This isn’t surprising from the Trump administration, which has shown no respect for Black women who call out the administration for their behavior. The response is in line with the treatment of Maxine Waters and April Ryan, which puts Frederica Wilson in good company.