When is he taking his foot out of his mouth? Donald Trump claims that veterans who get PTSD are not strong

CBS News

Donald Trump is drawing scorn from veterans’ groups and Vice President Joe Biden after he suggested that soldiers who suffer from mental health issues might not be as strong as those who don’t.

Trump was speaking at an event organized by the Retired American Warriors political action committee Monday when he was asked about his commitment to faith-based programs aimed at preventing suicides and helping soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other issues.

“When you talk about the mental health problems - when people come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and you’re strong and you can handle it. But a lot of people can’t handle it,” he said.

“And they see horror stories. They see events that you couldn’t see in a movie, nobody would believe it,” he added.

Trump then addressed the rash of veteran suicides and said “we’re going to address that very strongly.”

The GOP candidate continued: “The whole mental health issue is going to be a very important issue when I take over, and the VA is going to be fixed in so many ways, but that’s gonna be one of the ways we’re gonna help. And that’s in many respects going to be the number one thing we have to do because I think it’s really been left behind.”

While Trump appeared to be sympathetic to the issue, his initial comment linking strength and people being able to “handle it” has drawn condemnation from critics as well as veterans’ groups that have been working for years to reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues in an effort to encourage soldiers to seek treatment.

While Trump’s campaign insists his remarks on PTSD were not negative and were taken out of context, they have been picked up by Democrats supporting Hillary Clinton’s campaign, most notably Biden.

The vice president was in Sarasota, Florida, campaigning for Clinton on Monday when he brought up Trump’s comments, saying, “Where in the hell is he from.”

Biden talked about his late son, the Iraq veteran Beau Biden, who was awarded a Bronze Star for bravery in Iraq, and passionately denounced the notion that veterans with mental health issues are weak. The vice president told a story about a soldier who was awarded a Silver Star.

“When I went to pin it on him in front of the entire brigade he stood and looked at me and said, ‘Sir I don’t want the medal. I don’t want the medal.’ You know why? He said he died. ‘He died, Mr. Vice President, I don’t want the medal,’” said Biden, before yelling, “How many nights does that kid go to sleep seeing that image in his head, dealing with it?”

Biden then talked about the duty of America to care for its wounded veterans.

“What are the chances Trump honors commitment to those who are wounded?” Biden said. “It’s not just that he doesn’t get it. He doesn’t want to find out.” [...]