Trump blows off Veterans Day while his campaign hawks vet-themed swag

This Veterans Day weekend, Trump repeatedly refused to honor the sacrifices of America’s troops — and then shamelessly exploited veterans in a bid for donations to his presidential campaign.

In an email solicitation advertising a 40 percent off sale on campaign “merch,” the Trump/Pence Make America Great Again Committee centered its sales pitch around Veterans Day.

The email shows off military-themed products, including “Veterans for Trump” bumper stickers and t-shirts. Prospective shoppers were told to enter the coupon code “HONOR” for their discount.

Sales from all of the products at Trump’s online store go to his campaign committee and are considered political donations.

Yet at the same time as his campaign was using veterans as a fundraising tactic, the White House was letting reporters know that Trump would not appear at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate Veterans Day.

President Barack Obama spoke at Arlington multiple times on Veterans Day, as did George W. Bush. President Bill Clinton attended the event every year of his eight-year presidency.

But this year, the Trump White House called a “lid” on presidential activities for Veterans Day at the early hour of 10 a.m., meaning Trump had no intention of leaving the White House for the rest of the day.

And rather than speak at a ceremony honoring the military, of which he is the commander in chief, Trump took to Twitter instead.

Instead of discussing Veterans Day, Trump wrote, “The prospect of Presidential Harassment by the Dems is causing the Stock Market big headaches!”

That tweet followed an earlier tirade about elections in Florida — in which Trump called to disenfranchise military service members who sent their ballots by mail, just so that his political allies could be declared winners.

Trump also skipped a ceremony honoring World War I soldiers at a cemetery in France, where he was traveling this weekend. He blamed the rain for his absence — but that didn’t keep other world leaders away.

Trump is refusing to do the bare minimum expected of an American president to honor veterans and their contribution to society — but he is still perfectly willing to use them in a selfish bid for campaign cash.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.