Obama didn't call John Kelly when his Marine son died in action, White House official says
Source: ABC News
Adding to the continued drama over whether past presidents have called the families of fallen soldiers, a senior White House official told ABC News today that then-President Obama did not call John Kelly, now the White House chief of staff, after the death of his son in 2010.
The retired general’s son, 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, died in action while serving with the Marines in Afghanistan.
Kelly and his wife attended a breakfast for Gold Star families at the White House in 2011 and sat at first lady Michelle Obama's table, a person familiar with the breakfast told ABC News.
But the breakfast, scheduled to be hosted by the Obamas, was six months after the death of Kelly's son. It's unclear whether President Obama contacted Kelly about his son in any way prior to this.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/obama-call-john-kelly-marine-son-died-action/story?id=50533292
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Iliyah
(25,111 posts)
C_U_L8R
(49,384 posts)Clearly Trump has been caught playing golf instead of calling any Gold Star families.
PubliusEnigma
(1,583 posts)
ExciteBike66
(2,700 posts)
PJMcK
(25,048 posts)1st Lt. Robert Kelly was married when he died. It seems more appropriate that condolences would be directed to her.
Trump is such an ass.
Ilsa
(64,368 posts)Call in-laws, cousins twice removed, their first grade homeroom teacher, and the guy that drove the ice cream truck through the neighborhood where Lt. Kelly was growing up. 
PJMcK
(25,048 posts)But he neglected to call Lt. Kelly's parents. Isn't that why Trump's panties are all twisted up?
(wink)
adigal
(7,581 posts)Obama would have called Kelly's wife, not his parents. But I'm sure Obama reached out to Kelly.
This is making me sick.
More_Cowbell
(2,241 posts)It's up to the family to decide if they want to respond. I don't see General Kelly calling Trump a liar to his face, whether President Obama called the family or not.
I hate this White House and every person in it.
Gothmog
(179,856 posts)President Obama would have personally called the widow and not the father of the slain solider. Here is some more on this https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/john-kelly-and-his-wife-sat-with-michelle-obama-at-gold-star-family-gathering-after-sons-death/
Link to tweet
?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2F2017%2F10%2Fjohn-kelly-and-his-wife-sat-with-michelle-obama-at-gold-star-family-gathering-after-sons-death%2F
Second Lt. Robert Kelly was killed at age 29 while leading a platoon in Afghanistan in November 2010, and his father delivered a speech four days later about military sacrifices and the troops’ growing isolation from society.
His father has largely avoided speaking publicly about his family’s loss since then, and asked the Marine Corps officer who introduced him ahead of that impassioned speech not to mention his son.
“We are only one of 5,500 American families who have suffered the loss of a child in this war,” Kelly told the Washington Post six years ago. “The death of my boy simply cannot be made to seem any more tragic than the others.”
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)
groundloop
(13,846 posts)TheDebbieDee
(11,119 posts)and dismissive rhetoric - actually, no acknowledgement at all about the soldiers that died in Niger?
BTW, what were those soldiers doing in Niger - does anybody know?
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Pugster
(229 posts)He pretends to be ashamed of Trump's actions but he's just an enabler.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Besides, the wife and children are contacted first.
Kingofalldems
(40,277 posts)
procon
(15,805 posts)
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)
ATL Ebony
(1,097 posts)"But the breakfast, scheduled to be hosted by the Obamas, was six months after the death of Kelly's son. It's unclear whether President Obama contacted Kelly about his son in any way prior to this. "
Why not just ask Kelly and let it go. Obama called, visited and honored the families. Idjit45 did not. I only recall him trying to call Heather Heyer's mom (who was not interested in chatting with him) and wanting to make a political statement via tweet. However, Marie Tillman, widow of Pat Tillman, asked that her husband's service/death not be politicized (after one of Trump's bodacious tweets).
Now he's wanting to politicize his chief of staff's son. Kelly, please stop this insanity.
LisaM
(29,634 posts)What's horrible, though, is that his deceased son is being used as a pawn in this game of words. I give him credit that he was quiet abut his personal loss, and now it's being spattered across the press by his repulsive boss, who's putting him in an absolutely terrible position.
stollen
(1,143 posts)Kelly told him, 7 years after his son's death. Kelly supposedly didn't want his son's death to be any more significant than all the other deaths at the time, many of them children of officers.
Now he seems to have undermined his own desire for keeping it "low key," perhaps in an effort to cover for Trump. Huge mistake.
A lot of these generals on the Trump staff voted for Trump, so what can one say?
Kaleva
(40,365 posts)Until Kelly himself says something about the subject, this is all speculation.
stollen
(1,143 posts)on this subject?
Kaleva
(40,365 posts)Kelly apparently said that not getting a direct phone call from then President Obama was not a criticism. But Trump turned it around to make it an attack on Obama. Kelly advised Trump not to make the phone calls as he, Trump, did not serve or lost a loved one but Trump insisted and did it anyways.
LisaM
(29,634 posts)There's an ugliness to all this, a real ugliness.
DK504
(3,847 posts)He should be banging on the Moron's desk demanding a retraction, throw his reds in the idiot's face and walk out. Period.
itcfish
(1,835 posts)briv1016
(1,570 posts)and use it as an excuse to fire the guy trying to take away his phone?
rurallib
(64,688 posts)so will he call this "fake news?"
Irish_Dem
(81,263 posts)
Eliot Rosewater
(34,285 posts)Did he call the wife?
Did he call many family members? I am willing to bet a thousand dollars he called many family members on many occasions, whether on this one or not.
And that trump never does.
Scalded Nun
(1,691 posts)'Lies' or 'Fake News'
lanlady
(7,229 posts)The Boy Scouts. Gold Star Families. Hurricane victims. What a vile sack of shit he is.
all american girl
(1,788 posts)When my husband went to Iraq, and if something happened to him, they would not have called my father-in-law, a retire COL in the Army, they would have called me.
This needs to stop because it's presenting something that is not true.
adigal
(7,581 posts)all american girl
(1,788 posts)He is retiring...Oct 31 his official date..though he's been on terminal leave for the last couple of months...we are one happy family. NO MORE MOVING!!!!!! YEAH!!!!! Little things make me happy 
adigal
(7,581 posts)all american girl
(1,788 posts)
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)
maxsolomon
(38,720 posts)everyone's running about trying to prove or disprove Trump's lie/technically-not-a-lie-misrepresentation.
meanwhile no one is asking why he sat on his fat ass in a golf cart instead of making 4 phone calls.
FOUR.
BTW, 500 US soldiers died in Afghanistan in 2010.
Fuck Trump.
stillcool
(34,407 posts)It says
"It's unclear whether President Obama contacted Kelly about his son in any way prior to this"
so who knows that President Obama did not contact Kelly?..and, I imagine the Obama Administration might have kept a record of such things.
Bradical79
(4,490 posts)His dead kid being used as Trump's political shield is disgusting.
xor
(1,204 posts)Almost a year into this moron's presidency and he still hasn't figured out how to at least pretend to be presidential. It's amazing.
and all the Donnie Short Fingers enablers.
He works for the orange shitstain...he has no soul.
In fact, it's apparent that NO ReTrumplican has a soul.
To sit back and say nothing as a piece of shit, never served, soulless coward digs up your sons rotting corpse and uses it as a political football is deplorable. To continue "serving" such a man is PURE UNADULERATED EVIL
Every second Kelly stands with "shit-for-brains" equals a million years in the fires of hell
davsand
(13,446 posts)Kelly is no stranger to the White house. Seems to me that an expression of sympathy or condolence would be offered in person if at all possible rather than picking up the phone. I've yet to hear Kelly offer criticism, and he is the only one who would know with certainty.
Disgusting.
Laura
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)Does he do the honorable thing and risk losing his jerb by outing Trumpelthinskin as a liar (or clarify the ways in which he's at least heavily stretching the truth, which is basically a given)?
Or does he let it pass and let Derr Trumphenfuhrer 'get away' with it, and in effect give Cheetolini additional power over him insofar as he now 'knows something' that Kelly SHOULD have shot down as false, which he can now keep in his quiver when he needs to make a power-play against him?
Anyone who thinks for one minute The Con-ald wouldn't stoop that low ... to be all 'Well, General Kelly, remember when I lied about Obama not consoling your family, and you said nothing to the public? Well if YOU do/don't do (so-and-so) I'll out you to the Country as a man who wouldn't even stand up for his fallen SON who died a HERO ... so you better shut up & fly right ... and do/not do ... whatever I'm demanding ... or I'll make you look horrible!' ... obviously hasn't been paying attention.
I'd bet any amount this is how this guy has always operated. He hires people, makes them lie (or not contradict his lies when they know they should) for him, tell them 'don't worry I'm taking care of you, you're my boy/girl!'. Then he knows they're under his thumb because he 'has shit on them' ... even though that shit was originally entirely to HIS benefit.
I seriously cannot believe that ANYONE still works for this P.O.S. human being. The ones that still do are either pathologically power-hungry and greedy (and/or utterly lacking self-confidence), or he has dirt on them of some kind ... OR they're there out of a sense of duty to the USA in order to try to prohibit the Orange Shitstain ... from doing something utterly crazy like pushing the button.
Kelly would, in the end, be better off asserting himself by shooting down this lie (or at least clarifying the truth, whatever that may be) and letting Trump fire him for it for 'selling him out' and/or 'lying to the People', however he's gonna spin it ... if the DOESN'T get the axe for it, he will at least have established himself as someone who's not gonna take his shit ... Trump will likely end up treating him BETTER ... if he keeps him on.
Exposing this bullshit is a WIN/WIN for Kelly if you ask me ...
Response to Pugster (Original post)
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coolsandy
(479 posts)A special dinner in honor of GS families was held and Kelly sat with the Obamas. STFU!