With national security, Israel, Ukraine and Afghanistan all topics that arose in the debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, veterans across the U.S. had a lot to say about how the candidates covered their interests.
In a postdebate spin room hosted by VoteVets, a progressive lobbying group for veterans, Max Rose, a former congressman, Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient, said: “Everything with Donald Trump is a very short-term zero-sum game. And so for him, the win is a couple more bucks. That’s it. That’s the win. But what I think he’s forgetting about, consistently, is that his policies make it much more likely that the United States of America will expend horrific levels of blood and treasure.
“Because he is unwilling to engage in the tried-and-true methods of prevention that we know work. That’s what is so scary about him—is not just his fixation on a couple of dollars. It’s the disastrous consequences or potential consequences of that short-term-ist thinking.”
Trump has previously met the ire of veterans groups after reports surfaced that he had privately referred to veterans who were caught, captured and killed in combat as “suckers.” The former president also received criticism after saying John McCain, who was captured while serving in the military, was not a war hero. Jimmy McCain, the late senator’s son, has endorsed Harris for president.
Prior to the debate, VoteVets projected an image onto the wall of Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center, where the event took place, that said: “We’re VETERANS. Not suckers or losers.”
Onlookers watching the presidential debate at the Angry Elephant, a bar and grill in San Antonio. Veterans have commented on the first debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Eric Gay/Associated Press
President Joe Biden‘s administration has also received criticism from veterans groups over its handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Dan Crenshaw, a Republican congressman and Navy SEAL veteran, also called Harris out for statements she made about the Taliban during Tuesday’s debate.
He wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Harris claims Trump’s negotiations with the Taliban caused the horrible withdrawal she supported? Make that make sense. You can’t.
“Only one administration conducted the horrific withdrawal that killed 13 service members and left 1,000 Americans at the mercy of the Taliban. It wasn’t Trump.”
VoteVets, however, saw the debate as an unequivocal win for Harris, writing on X, “@KamalaHarris bringing FACTS,” after the vice president called Trump weak on national security and foreign policy.
U.S. Navy forces at a Veterans Day parade in 2023. VoteVets, a progressive lobbying group for veterans, said Harris won the debate.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
In the spin room, Mike Lavigne, a veteran and senior adviser at VoteVets, discussed comments Trump made about NATO during the debate.
“Every time he talks about NATO, he goes into the ‘They weren’t paying up. They weren’t paying enough. I made them pay,’ and it’s almost like he equates the amount of money that NATO countries spend … on defense with rent,” Lavigne said. “How can we have a person like this responsible for maintaining what is easily the most important alliance in the world?”
Both the Republican and Democratic vice presidential nominees are veterans. Ohio Senator JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, served as a military journalist in Iraq, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, served in the National Guard.
Vance previously came under attack from Republicans for supporting an end to the war in Ukraine and a negotiated peace deal with Russia.
John Conway, the leader of Republicans for Ukraine, called Trump’s selection of Vance as his running mate “a huge disappointment to all Republicans who want to see Ukraine win, Russia lose, and Putin defeated.”
