Donald Trump faced fierce criticism on Tuesday after bombastically claiming the U.S. “would have won” the Vietnam War “very quickly” if he had been president when it raged.
Trump’s boast on CNBC came amid intensifying scrutiny over his war on Iran, which is now in its eighth week.
Critics on social media were quick to point out that Trump himself avoided serving in the Vietnam war, which dragged on for almost two decades. He received four deferments while in college before being declared medically unfit due to bone spurs in his feet.
The daughters of the podiatrist who made the diagnosis, however, later claimed their father did it as “a favor” for Trump’s father, Fred Trump.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) referenced Trump’s deferments as he slammed the claim. “This kind of arrogance is exactly how America keeps getting stuck in long, bloody wars,” Kelly wrote on X. “We need real leadership and a plan and a goal to end this war in Iran, and he has none of it.”
Lawmakers, media personalities and others also weighed in:
- Rep. Jim McGovern: “Says the guy who dodged the Vietnam draft.”
- Rep. Jason Crow: “If he’s so confident he could’ve ‘won Vietnam’, why’d Trump dodge the draft five times?”
- Jessica Tarlov: “Sad that his bone spurs kept him out of such an easy war!”
- Tommy Vietor: “It's a real bummer that claiming he would've won the wars in Vietnam and Iraq in a matter of weeks doesn't get a follow up question.”
- An0maly: “I bet Trump thinks he could have signed the Declaration of Independence faster, built Noah’s ark bigger, made the Bill of Rights better and gotten across the Delaware River quicker than George Washington.”
- Molly Jong-Fast: “I’m Not sure bringing up Vietnam is the move.”
- Tommy Hawk: “Old bone spurs couldn’t win a game of paintball, let alone a war.”
