Icon: enlarge
Democrat Joe Biden speaking in Wilmington, Delaware
Photo: KEVIN LAMARQUE / REUTERS
US presidential candidate Joe Biden has sharply attacked President Donald Trump for his alleged derogatory remarks about US soldiers who died in World War I.
"It's sick, pathetic, that's so un-American, so unpatriotic," said the former vice president on Friday at a press conference in his hometown of Wilmington.
If Trump actually described fallen US soldiers as "losers" and "idiots", it would be "disgusting".
"It confirms what most of us see as true: Donald Trump is not fit to be the president and commander in chief of the armed forces," said Biden.
He stressed that his son Beau, who died of a brain tumor in 2015, was not a "fool" when he volunteered in the Iraq war.
"The soldiers who served with him - especially those who did not come back - were not losers."
The magazine "The Atlantic" reported that Trump called US soldiers who fell in World War I two years ago on a trip to France as "losers" and "idiots".
The President denies the allegations.
On Friday, the Republican, who wants to be re-elected for a second term in November, said it was a "fake story".
For him, fallen soldiers are "absolute heroes".
Trump's relationship with the country's armed forces is complicated.
The president emphasizes again and again that he has strengthened the military and provided it with more money.
However, in recent years there have been repeated differences of opinion with the military leadership and open disputes with respected ex-generals.
After the death of the African American George Floyd in a brutal police operation at the end of May, Trump caused outrage with the threat of using professional soldiers against violent demonstrators domestically.
Even Trump's Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, openly disagreed.
According to a poll published earlier this week, Trump has less support from the armed forces than Biden.
According to this, only around 37 percent of the soldiers surveyed were in favor of a second term in office for the president;
43 percent were in favor of Biden's election victory.
Icon: The mirror
pgo / dpa / afp
