Trump brands himself 'THE LONE WARRIOR!', Internet says he stayed at home 'alone' while real warriors served
President Donald Trump has been witnessing one challenge after another in the year leading to his re-election bid and each one has made his victory look increasingly difficult. Just when he was preparing to take off after being acquitted by the Senate in the impeachment trial and banked on a strong economy to see him through the next election battle, the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
As the Trump administration battled to bring the country’s health sector and economy back on track, anti-racist protests broke out in the wake of the brutal death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. And as the president draws flak over those two issues, a new revelation has been made by The New York Times suggesting that the commander-in-chief did nothing despite Russia paying money to Taliban militants to kill American troops deployed in Afghanistan.
Amid these multiple challenges, the president took to Twitter on Tuesday, June 30, to declare himself as "the lone warrior" in capital letters followed by an exclamation mark. His supporters, including Eric, one of his sons, backed him for his tweet but there were countless voices that were not yet convinced.
Trump's "lone warrior" tweet came particularly at a time when he is drawing serious flak from various quarters, including some of his own supporters, over the deaths of American soldiers in war-ravaged Afghanistan. Trump, who often vows to "Make America Great Again" and also promises to end the country's endless wars overseas, has been accused of betraying his own country in this case.
It has been alleged that he did not care to condemn Russia despite knowing about its sinister plot for months and even invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to join G7. It is not the first time that Trump has tried to showcase himself as an embattled hero of his nation when faced with adversity.
While fighting coronavirus in March, Trump declared himself as a "wartime president" but eventually couldn't stop America from becoming the most-affected nation in the world with over 2.6 million positive cases and 127,000 deaths. His presumptive opponent in the November election Joe Biden mocked Trump on Tuesday, June 30, saying the former "has surrendered, waved the white flag and left the battlefield".
'Lone warrior' Trump mocked
His "lone warrior" tweet met some serious criticism as people mocked him over his temporary retreat to the bunker of the White House in May end after anti-racist protesters approached the White House. Some also brought back the history of Trump avoiding the Vietnam War allegedly because of a leg injury, which was also said to be fake.
Here are some of the responses that Trump's tweet received:
A user, called American Veteran, said: "Trump was a 'lone Warrior' during Vietnam. He stayed at home 'alone' while the real warriors served. Lone warrior, my a**. He is a damn coward." Writer-comedian Nick Jack Pappas said: "Trump seems to be calling himself 'The Lone Warrior, which doesn't make a lot of sense. 1. He isn't a warrior. He dodged the war with bone spurs. 2. Maybe he wants to be like 'The Lone Ranger', but the Lone Ranger at least wore a f***ing mask."
Scott Dworkin, the founder of Democratic Coalition, posted: "You have Russia and China. You’re not completely alone." One user Nancy Sara said: "He's never been in a war. Coronavirus doesn't even count because he kept telling Governors to take care of it. Best I can tell he's the Lone Warrior of the Porcelain Throne and that's about it." John Sipher, a former member of CIA's Senior Intelligence Service, said: "Warrior? Cowards aren't warriors. Warriors sacrifice. They work for others. They believe in service. They don’t have bone spurs."
Trump was left embarrassed recently after leaks from a new memoir penned by former national security adviser John Bolton exposed his foreign policy conduct. According to the book which got released last week, Trump sought help from his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to win this year's election and also had little idea that Britain, one of the US' old allies, is a nuclear power.