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Summary: Donald Trump continues to verbally beat up formerly tortured Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl.
Donald Trump’s big mouth has earned him ire and accolades, and it is now a fallen soldier who is the latest victim of his attacks.
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl faces charges that he deserted his patrol base in Afghanistan in 2009, and Trump recently brought him up as an example of a “dirty, rotten traitor” that he would love to take out and shoot dead.
During a campaign stop in Massachusetts, Trump asked, “What do we do with Sergeant Bergdahl, 50 years ago?” Before he made his hand like a gun and motioned that he would shoot the disgraced soldier.
“Boom. Boom!… Boom, he’s gone. He’s gone!” Trump said.
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Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. Photo courtesy of Washington Times.
While Trump’s message is shocking for a normal politician, it’s not surprising coming from Trump who has made a name for himself hating on nearly everyone.
Additionally, Bergdahl, in particular, is often a Republican punching bag. GOP candidates use him to showcase their intolerance for cowards and blast how his actions put others in jeopardy. However, it’s Trump who seems to vilify him the most, calling him “traitor” and suggesting he get shipped back to Afghanistan to be killed.
On Friday, Bergdahl’s legal team filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals to expedite hearing two issues in his case. They said Trump’s persistent attacks threaten Bergdahl’s right to fair consideration.
“Mr. Trump is treating Sergeant Bergdahl as a political chew toy,” Eugene Fidell, Bergdahl’s top lawyer, told The Washington Post. “What he is doing is very unfair, and we’re not going to tolerate it.”
After Bergdahl fled from his base in 2009, he was captured by the Taliban and tortured for five years. A U.S. Special Operatives team recovered him after a controversial deal took place where the American government released five Taliban detainees in exchange for Bergdahl. This year, Bergdahl was charged by the Army with desertion and misbehavior.
Berghahl’s team knows that they cannot stop the angry comments about their client, but they argue that the constant media attacks damage his right to fair consideration.
The lawyers made a similar request to expedite in August, which was denied.
The senior Army officer investigating the case, Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, seems overall sympathetic to Bergdahl. Although Bergdahl’s actions spawned a dangerous manhunt, Dahl testified that it would be “inappropriate” to imprison him considering he had already been physically punished by the years of torture following his desertion.
