Trump Suggests That Soldiers Who Suffer From PTSD Aren’t “Strong”

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

If you are a veteran who is supporting Trump at this point after what he's said so far, then you are probably not easily offended by careless words.  Him using the word "strong" to characterize those who come back from war without severe mental health issues is probably not going to be a dealbreaker.

[KingSweden]

To be fair to The Donald, in context his comments weren't actually that bad, but still. This kind of garbled stuff is what happens when you trade in discipline for word salad, -and suffer foot in mouth disease when trying to show empathy

[The Arizonan]

If Donald Trump had been to Vietnam rather than dodging the draft, then he wouldn't have said crap like this.

What a piece of garbage.

[Seriously?]

This is a stretch, even by sleazy Democrat operative standards. Not only was the answer taken out of context and cut off at a convenient spot, but also the person that asked the question blasted the left for spinning the question as a negative against Trump.

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At the end of the day, Trump is right about this. Not everyone is strong enough to deal with the horrors of war and mental health counseling should be there for those that are running into difficulties after honorably serving our country.

[OwlRhetoric]

As usual, Trump's communication style could have been better, but I'm not seeing that he literally said "vets with PTSD are weak" like hatchet media is trying to claim.

[Trapsy]

At this point, I am not shocked at what Donald says anymore. Just glad he's creating ads for H.( They should hire me to create better ads for them.)

[GeorgiaModerate]

I expect this one will fade out of the public consciousness within a few days, if for no other reason than that there are much bigger Trump stories ongoing.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I sincerely hope you are one day very embarrassed by this incarnation of yourself, Sanchez. It's just really sad.

It really is. I know Sanchez is better than that.

[ProudModerate2]

I expect this one will fade out of the public consciousness within a few days, if for no other reason than that there are much bigger Trump stories ongoing.

Yes, but turning it into a 30-second ad (and adding other "vet insults" from trump) could produce a small gain for Hillary in battle-ground states and especially in ones with more military personnel/families (NC, etc).

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I sincerely hope you are one day very embarrassed by this incarnation of yourself, Sanchez. It's just really sad.

It really is. I know Sanchez is better than that.

I am not seeing my claim that Trump is being intentionally misconstrued being refuted.

[Ebowed]

The sheer hate Trump has for the troops is truly astounding, and certainly not one of the aspects of his campaign that I would have predicted when he first launched the candidacy.

In the year of our LORD 2016, veterans get booed at Mike Pence rallies.

[rafta_rafta]

A woman asked this question in the CNN Town Hall with Obama

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Obama's response

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[Antonio the Sixth]

I sincerely hope you are one day very embarrassed by this incarnation of yourself, Sanchez. It's just really sad.

It really is. I know Sanchez is better than that.

I am not seeing my claim that Trump is being intentionally misconstrued being refuted.

Words have a meaning, for f**k's sake.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I sincerely hope you are one day very embarrassed by this incarnation of yourself, Sanchez. It's just really sad.

It really is. I know Sanchez is better than that.

I am not seeing my claim that Trump is being intentionally misconstrued being refuted.

WRONG!

(You may now consider yourself comprehensively refuted. If you fail to acknowledge this it's because  your brain isn't working right.)

[Fuzzy Bear]

I sincerely hope you are one day very embarrassed by this incarnation of yourself, Sanchez. It's just really sad.

It really is. I know Sanchez is better than that.

I am not seeing my claim that Trump is being intentionally misconstrued being refuted.

WRONG!

(You may now consider yourself comprehensively refuted. If you fail to acknowledge this it's because  your brain isn't working right.)

Don't worry, Sanchez.  You're not refuted; it's just noise.  The crowd here makes my heart yearn for dudeabides.

[NHI]

To be fair to The Donald, in context his comments weren't actually that bad, but still. This kind of garbled stuff is what happens when you trade in discipline for word salad, -and suffer foot in mouth disease when trying to show empathy

[Ebsy]

https://youtu.be/uS0nZt1Rtps

Must watch Joe Biden response.

[NHI]

https://youtu.be/uS0nZt1Rtps

Must watch Joe Biden response.

Wow. Great response by Joe Biden. As an aside, he would have been a great standard bearer for the Democratic Party in 2016.

[Averroës Nix]

The couple of lines that are getting a lot of play sound gross and betray some serious and harmful misconceptions about PTSD, but most of the coverage is taking Trump out of context on this one. The rest of his statement showed compassion despite being as vapid as most of what Trump says. There are a lot of groups for whom Trump seems to have no empathy, but veterans are not one of them. (He's still willing to take advantage of them for personal gain, obviously. Let's not get crazy.) There are about twenty things that he's said within the past twenty-four hours that are more disturbing than this.

[Gustaf]

Isn't the issue that one of the big reasons there is so much trouble with veterans and PTSD is precisely the notion that suffering from PTSD is an indication of weakness, in a culture and environment which very naturally abhors weakness and praises strength?

And so no matter what Trump's intentions were and what else he said this is really, really bad.

[Averroës Nix]

Isn't the issue that one of the big reasons there is so much trouble with veterans and PTSD is precisely the notion that suffering from PTSD is an indication of weakness, in a culture and environment which very naturally abhors weakness and praises strength?

And so no matter what Trump's intentions were and what else he said this is really, really bad.

I think the relevant contrast is with how he talks about immigrants, women, racial minorities, etc.

And while I don't want to say that PTSD is exaggerated, Trump's biggest mistake is equating PTSD with suicide in the first place. I think that the two most important misconceptions regarding suicide and the military are the following:

(1) The rate of suicide among veterans and active-duty military is not all that different from the rate of suicide among similar men who never served. Depending on how you adjust for region, rurality, and age, (and whether you believe that it's appropriate to make the comparison in those terms) the rate could actually be much lower relative to the rate for those who never served. Serving in the military is less of a risk factor than working in farming, fishing and forestry or construction occupations.

(2) Most veterans and active-duty members of the military who kill themselves are never diagnosed with PTSD and have never seen combat. Among those in the military, most suicide attempts occur before, not after, deployment.

So even most of the well-intentioned reactions here are getting the relationship between PTSD, suicide, and military service in the United States very, very, wrong.