Trump urges Fox News to fire reporter after she verified he belittled veterans

US President Donald Trump has demanded the dismissal of a Fox News reporter after she verified some details of a controversial report by a prominent magazine that said he had belittled American soldiers killed in action.

The right-wing broadcaster’s national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin backed up the article in the The Atlantic magazine citing two anonymous former “senior” US officials in her reporting on Friday, saying they confirmed “key parts” of the story, though she noted that the sources could not confirm “the most salacious” part.

Using his favorite social media outlet Twitter, Trump wrote late Friday that Griffin “should be fired for this kind of reporting,” alleging that she never called the White House for comment. He further likened her report to the so-called “Dirty Dossier” that sparked a years-long probe of the alleged Russian collusion with his administration.

Jennifer Griffin of Fox News Did Not Confirm ‘Most Salacious‘ Part of Atlantic Story https://t.co/rUpbSWhHac via @BreitbartNews All refuted by many witnesses. Jennifer Griffin should be fired for this kind of reporting. Never even called us for comment. @FoxNews is gone!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2020

According to the The Atlantic article, Trump had referred to dead American World War I troops in France as “losers” and “suckers” in 2018, further revealing that he had also canceled a trip to a military cemetery because he did not want his hair wet.

The Associated Press and The Washington Post later confirmed aspects of the story and Griffin wrote a Twitter thread and also went on air to outline how she had verified several claims in the article.

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The Fox News reporter said she confirmed Trump didn’t think highly of those who served in the Vietnam War, citing her sources as saying, “When the President spoke about the Vietnam War, he said, ‘It was a stupid war. Anyone who went was a sucker’.”

The source further pointed out that Trump was confused about why anyone would join the service: “What’s in it for them? They don’t make any money.”

Griffin also elaborated that the US president had stated that the inclusion of “wounded guys” in a military parade was “not a good look” because “Americans don’t like that.”

She further reported that Trump did not want flags to be lowered after former US Senator and Vietnam War veteran John McCain died but later relented amid insistence from other officials.

Earlier, Trump suggested in a pair of tweets that the author of The Atlantic article – its editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg -- may have been working with "disgruntled people" intent on seeing him lose reelection in November, comparing the magazine story to the controversial dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele in 2016 that alleged Russia had compromising material on Trump.

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“You work so hard for the military, from completely rebuilding a depleted mess that was left by OBiden, to fixing a broken V.A. and fighting for large scale military pay raises, and then a slimeball reporter, maybe working with disgruntled people, makes up such a horrible charge,” Trump tweeted without mentioning Goldberg by name.

“This reminds me of the Dirty Dossier, which was pushed hard by John McCain, & then with a thud turned out to be a total fraud. So many other scams also. The Radical Far Left is VICIOUS, they will do or say anything to win. But they won’t, we will WIN, & have four great years!” he added.

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