A recently released poll that was conducted by Military Times and surveyed active-duty members of the U.S. military revealed that just 37.8 percent of respondents said that they had a favorable view of the president. In contrast, a full 49.9 percent of respondents — close to a majority — said that they had an unfavorable view of Trump. These numbers stand in stark contrast to the traditional Republican strength among military communities. This week, the progressive veterans group VoteVets came out with a hard-hitting video ad insisting that Trump’s behavior towards the military has been “humiliating” and characterizing the president as desperate to gloss over his own problems.
In the ad, a narrator says:
‘Donald Trump is panicking, finding any excuse to show up in military communities. He knows if elections were held today, he’d lose the military vote in a landslide. 60 percent of active-duty officers disapprove of his presidency, because Donald Trump disrespects those who serve… Our troops are in more danger today because of Donald Trump’s betrayals… His weakness emboldens the enemy… Trump’s refusal to defend America’s national security is dangerous. His refusal to stand up for our troops is humiliating.’
Check out the video below:
Our military has been repeatedly BETRAYED by Trump.
Now he is panicking, using any excuse to show up in military communities. Like today, in Wilmington, NC.
But service members know better.
Donald Trump, you are going to lose. #TrumpYouLose #TraitorTrump pic.twitter.com/08LhsmbWKn
— VoteVets (@votevets) September 2, 2020
In the video, the narrator has plenty of examples of Trump’s misconduct. For instance, they referenced his refusal to take reports seriously of an apparent Russian plot to give Afghan fighters bounties in exchange for the murder of American troops. The narrator also hammered Trump over his recent threats to send active-duty troops into the streets to confront protesters, most of whom have been peaceful. It’s worth noting: in the recently released Military Times polling, a full 74 percent of the respondents (who were all active-duty military members) said that they disagreed with the president’s “suggestion that active-duty military personnel should be used to respond to civil unrest in American cities, including the ongoing racial equality protests,” as the publication summarized it.
Trump is not only sinking among members of the military — as of Wednesday morning, he loses to Democratic presidential pick Joe Biden by an average of 7.2 percent on the national level, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Check out Twitter’s response to the new VoteVets ad below:
