Donald Trump drew immediate blowback on Monday after comments he made to a veterans group regarding suicide rates and access to mental healthcare.
While speaking at a national security town hall in Herndon, Va., Trump was asked by a former military staff sergeant about the importance of faith-based programs for veterans who find themselves at risk of committing suicide, along with troops suffering from post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury and “other related military-related mental and behavioral health issues.”
“Look, we need that so badly,” he responded. “And when you talk about the mental health problems when people come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and you’re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can’t handle it.”
He continued, “They see horror stories. They see events that you couldn’t see in a movie, nobody would believe it. Now we need a mental health help and medical and it’s one of the things that I think is least addressed and one of the things that I hear most about when I go around and talk to the veterans.”
Despite pledging to tackle existing issues related to veterans’ mental health treatment, Trump was immediately criticized for his comments about veteran suicides rates.
Trump either thinks vets that commit suicide can’t hack it like men or genuinely doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
— trump is bad (@BigOleSportsFan) October 3, 2016
Running out of taboos to violate, Trump suggests veteran suicide is a sign of weakness https://t.co/HAJztBjMCs
— stipple tucci (@said_mitch) October 3, 2016
Trump: called a POW a loser, insulted a gold star family, called a General a failure & now calling out Veterans who commit suicide https://t.co/ht7eoM8tCu
— Nic Russo (@N_Russ0) October 3, 2016
However, others claimed Trump’s comments were taken out of context. They noted that the GOP nominee has been a strong supporter of improving the mental health services that are available to veterans.
It still wasn’t elegant, but Trump’s comments on veterans don’t sound nearly as bad in their full context.
— Dylan Scott (@dylanlscott) October 3, 2016
. @anamariecox I loathe Donald Trump but reading the total quote in context & transcript, it’s not as bad as made out to be.
— The Very Stable Genius Tweet Boy (@TheoTweetHaver) October 3, 2016
Trump has previously come under fire for criticizing the Gold Star parents of a fallen Muslim-American soldier, and for questioning Sen. John McCain’s war hero status.
Nevertheless, a September NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll found that 55 percent of active and former military members plan to vote for Trump in November, compared to 36 percent who said they support Clinton.
