Much ink and verbal venom has flowed over President Trump's condolence call to an army widow, Myeshia Johnson, on the death of her husband, Sgt. La David Johnson. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., has claimed her 15 minutes of national fame by expressing outrage over the president's words and delivery. Chief of Staff General Kelly has weighed in. I want to add an additional perspective because we're experts in how people repeat each other's words.
We weren't there, but the description from Rep. Wilson has all the earmarks of a situation where, after the president called, Wilson took control of the conversation, likely saying to Johnson, "Didn't you feel disrespected?" and/or "He didn't even mention La David by name." It's absolutely plausible Wilson caused Johnson to start crying. If you say "go ahead and cry" to someone emotionally distraught, you can get them to start crying.
General Kelly, who also listened to the call and had a conversation with the president beforehand, made clear that the president's intention was to express his support for Sgt. La David Johnson's service. The media's favorite trick is to use negative or inflammatory words to get someone to repeat them back. It looks like Rep. Wilson has been studying their playbook.
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