White House: Rep. Wilson Is 'Politicizing' Calls To Military Families

WASHINGTON, DC — White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders dismissed criticism of President Trump's reaction to the deaths of four military servicemembers who died in Niger two weeks ago. She said Rep. Frederica Wilson was politicizing the tragedy after the Florida Democrat recounted Trump tilling one dead soldier's widow, "He knew what he signed up for."

Wilson said she of the president that she wanted to "curse him out" for making the remarks to a grieving wife.

Ahead of the briefing, the White House found itself in the growing controversy of its own making. It began Monday when Trump said that his predecessors have not made such calls, despite an extensive record that shows former presidents have reached out to families of killed soliders in person, by phone and in letters.

On Tuesday, Trump said Chief of Staff John Kelly, whose Marine son died in Afghanistan in 2010 after stepping on a land mine, never received a call from President Obama. Kelly, a lieutenant general in the Marines at the time, has rarely spoken publicly about his son's death, saying that his family's loss was no greater than others who have lost a loved one to war. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Sanders didn't say Kelly approved of Trump's invocation of his son's death, but added, that he "is disgusted by the way this has been politicized."

Also on Tuesday, Rep. Wilson, a Florida Democrat, said she overheard a call between Trump and a mother who recently lost her son. She said Trump's response infuriated her, as the president reportedly told the soldier's widow and the grieving mother of her son, "He knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt."

Trump lashed out at the congresswoman, saying she falsified the account. Reached by the Washington Post, the mother of the fallen soldier, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, said Wilson's account was accurate.

“I didn't say what that congresswoman said; didn't say it all," Trump told reporters Wednesday. "She knows it.”

He continued: “I had a very nice conversation with the woman, with the wife who was — sounded like a lovely woman. Did not say what the congresswoman said, and most people aren’t too surprised to hear that.”

Sanders will likely be asked about this controversy.

Watch a live stream of the event here.

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Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images