Brian Mast defends Trump against "traitor" video by "progressive" veterans group

Donald Trump circulated a statement by Congressman Brian Mast, a Stuart Republican, Friday afternoon blasting a video by VoteVets, an organization of politically "progressive veterans and their supporters."

The video slams "traitor" Trump for claiming to have "his soldiers' backs." The VoteVets video also cites a 2020 report in The Atlantic in which Trump reportedly called U.S. military servicemen and women "losers" and is said to have stated that U.S. military personnel who lost their lives in defense of the country were "suckers."

Trump has vehemently denied the assertions. But last year, Trump's former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general whose son was killed in Afghanistan in 2010, confirmed the report.

Kelly issued a blistering statement to CNN last October saying of Trump: "A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.

"A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me,’ the statement continued. "A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family — for all Gold Star families — on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.”

Brian Mast statement in defense of Trump against VoteVets "false attacks"

On Friday, Trump circulated a statement from Mast, a political ally who is national chairman of Veterans For Trump.

Mast's statement called VoteVets "a shill group funded by liberal elite" and said its video made "baseless" and "vile" claims.

"First and foremost, it cites a refuted claim debunked by senior officials who were in the room years ago," Mast's statement read. "Recycling this fake news is made worse by exploiting the pain of family members of fallen soldiers.

Previous story: Brian Mast said Biden 'owns' Afghanistan withdrawal chaos, cites tactical errors

Mast, a combat veteran who suffered severe injuries from a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2010, also blamed President Joe Biden for the "failed retreat from Afghanistan" that resulted in "chaos and a disastrous outcome for our troops."

Mast extolled the Trump administration for signing what he called "the largest reform of the Department of Veterans Affairs in a generation, including VA Accountability and VA Choice, and he fired 11,500 federal workers who failed to give our wounded warriors the quality and timely care they deserve."

He also noted Trump's policies "decreased veteran homelessness, increased educational benefits, and achieved record-low veteran unemployment."

VoteVets ad also rips Trump for denigrating the late John McCain

The VoteVets ad also ripped Trump saying he has "never understood service and sacrifice."

Then, showing a historical photo of an injured John McCain after his release from a Vietnam POW camp, where he had been mercilessly tortured, the ad calls out Trump for having "mocked" the ad saying he "liked people that weren't captured."

"Trump has mocked the military all his life," the ad ends, reprimanding the former president for having called a U.S. Marine "a soldier."

Trump and McCain had an acrimonious relationship during their time in Washington.

Trump has long blamed, and loathed the Arizona Republican senator, for his vote against ending the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, in 2017.

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Brain Mast defends Trump after progressive VoteVets calls him traitor