Gold Star mom to Trump: "Please stop making everything about you"

Donald Trump’s decision to ignore the four Green Beret soldiers killed by ISIS in Niger — for nearly two weeks — was disgraceful, but not half as disgraceful as what he did when he finally was confronted with the tragedy by reporters.

As always when his ego is wounded, Trump lashed out. He first blamed the whole thing on “paperwork,” tried to deflect by lying about President Barack Obama, used his chief of staff’s dead son as a prop, then proclaimed to bereaved military wife Myeshia Johnson that her husband “knew what he signed up for,” and finally attacked both Johnson and her congresswoman.

Gold Star mom Karen Meredith has had enough.

Meredith, whose son, First Lt. Ken Ballard, lost his life in Iraq, told Trump in a message to VoteVets that it was time to grow up and care about others:

Mr. Trump, stop. Please, just stop. Your actions and words on this entire matter of the fallen in Niger is disgraceful, and unbecoming of a President of the United States and Commander in Chief. This is not about you, it is about them. It is about all of us who lost our loved ones in war. For once in your life, please stop making everything about you. For once in your life, at least pretend to know what empathy is. For once in your life, at least try to care about other people and their feelings.

Sadly, Trump is not likely to heed that request. Trump has demonstrated, since long before taking office, that he cannot seem to resist making everything about him. After a horrendous mass shooting at an Orland night club last year, Trump tweeted that he “appreciate[d] the congrats for being right.” He has responded similarly to other tragedies.

He response to the hurricane that devastated Puerto Rico has been largely about trying to defend himself from criticism, lash out at the media and at those who are begging for help, and to boast about his response. In nearly every statement and tweet, it is about him.

Now he has managed to turn the deaths of troops killed by ISIS into a story about him.

America needs leadership that is both accountable to the people and respectful of others’ sacrifices. The past few days have hammered home that Trump can never be either.