This Former Marine's Response To Donald Trump's Military Parade Is Going Viral
Ahead of Donald Trump's parade this past weekend, which was meant to celebrate the military's 250th anniversary (as well as, perhaps, his birthday), talk show host Bill Maher asked former Marine Corps officer and US Representative Seth Moulton for his thoughts on the spectacle.
In a now-viral clip from HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher asks Rep. Moulton, "As a veteran, what is your reaction to Trump's plans for a military parade?"
HBO / Twitter: @RpsAgainstTrump
His response had the studio audience bursting into laughter and applause.
Related: Well, Well, Well, For The Second Time In 2 Weeks, People Are Letting JD Vance Know EXACTLY How They Feel About Him In Public
"He's a draft dodger," Moulton said. "It's his first military thing he really gets to do."
Moulton isn't the first to refer to Trump as a "draft dodger." Democratic Senator and Purple Heart recipient Tammy Duckworth previously referred to the 79-year-old as "Cadet Bone Spurs" as she spoke on Trump's previous politicization of the military.
These critiques stem from a young Trump receiving not one, not two, not even three or four, but five military draft deferments during the Vietnam War. One of these deferments, according to the New York Times, was due to heel spurs, which left him unfit for active duty. This diagnosis reportedly came from a friend of his fathers.
Related: "Let Them Eat Teslas": People At The "No Kings" Protests This Weekend Brought Signs That Were So Clever I'm Still Laughing About Them
Continuing his point, Moulton delivered another jab: "Obviously, he likes Putin, he worships Kim Jong Un, he wants to be like that. He wants to be a dictator like those guys, and they have big military parades."
Further, the representative considered the single-day parade's hefty price tag, which officials estimate to land somewhere between $25 and $40 million. "That could help a lot of vets," he said with a shrug as CNN anchor Jake Tapper chimed in with suggestions about how the money could have been diverted to Veterans Affairs offices to help vets directly.
In response to the segment, some were quick to insist, "One veteran's words don't reflect the views of all veterans."
Others, however, applauded Moulton's words.
"Hell yes!" one person wrote. "Call it what it is — a coward who dodged service now wants to cosplay as a strongman? Disgraceful and dangerous."
But what are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.
Also in In the News: This Conservative Said He Wears A Fake ICE Uniform For A Really, Really, Really Gross Reason
Also in In the News: "Honestly Speechless At How Evil This Is": 26 Brutal, Brutal, Brutal Political Tweets Of The Week
Also in In the News: This Dem Lawmaker Is Going Viral For His Extremely Shady Question To Secretary Kristi Noem
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Forbes
30 minutes ago
- Forbes
‘Borderlands 4' Adds A Hugely Requested Feature Months Before Launch
Borderlands 4 Gearbox Borderlands 4 has officially become my most-anticipated game of the year, between how good its previews have looked and the glowing hands-on reviews that have just hit the internet this past week. Now, I am deeply impressed by what Gearbox has just announced. Due to a load of fan feedback and debates about the issue, they have added a feature to the game that will launch with it in September, a demonstration of both listening to the playerbase and nimble development. The debate was whether or not the Borderlands 4 'compass' system of locating objectives and enemies was better than a 'minimap' system that did the same thing but in a different format. Gearbox adamantly defended the compass decision, but the conversation was so pervasive that it has just been announced that Borderlands 4 will indeed launch with a combat minimap option. Here's Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford showing off the system during a 32-tweet thread covering the issue: Randy credits the community for helping to reinforce how important this issue is and that it needed to be addressed: 'This happened because of the best elements of our community. I'm talking about the real fans who sincerely want the best for the game and gave constructive notes and made reasonable arguments. You know who you are and you rock! You made this happen!' I'm not exactly sure which side of this I come down on. I think perhaps the compass, as it seems less intrusive in the UI, but I'll try both out to be sure. Regardless, it's great that there's an option, and you really do not see this sort of thing happen this quickly and way ahead of launch, rather than a 'yeah, we'll look into that for the future' sort of thing. It seems like it's all green lights for Borderlands 4 so far. The only negative things I've heard about it are not about the game itself, but people saying they didn't like Borderlands 3 , so they're not excited about 4. But a lot of the praise about Borderlands 4 is that it's fixing many of the issues of 3, from combat movement to looting to even the tone of its writing. That, combined with what appears to be a very reactive dev team on top of their game, I think this is going to be a big fall launch, particularly with a number of other games moving out of its way. Can't wait to play. Follow me on Twitter , YouTube , Bluesky and Instagram . Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy .


CBS News
30 minutes ago
- CBS News
Former Detroit home of Rosa Parks in line for historic district designation
A proposal is pending for the former Detroit home of Civil Rights Movement activists Rosa and Raymond Parks to be named a local historic district. The Detroit City Council Planning and Economic Development Standing Committee will hold a public hearing to consider the proposal. The designation is intended to honor the flat in the 3200 block of Virginia Park Street where Civil Rights activists Rosa and Raymond Parks lived for 27 years. "Their activism in Detroit helped shape the Civil Rights Movement," the Detroit Historic Designation Advisory Board said on its social media post. A public hearing, which is part of the designation process, will begin at 10:35 a.m. June 26 at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center on Woodward Avenue. Detroit's local historic districts are meant to be associated with people or events that are a significant part of Detroit's history, or have artistic or historical significance. Once a local historic district is established for a site, any exterior alterations to the building must go through the Historic District Commission. Rosa Parks, who was already active in the Civil Rights Movement, became known for her refusal to follow the Jim Crow-era laws in Montgomery, Alabama. Specifically, she refused to give up her seat on a bus and move to the back of the vehicle on Dec. 1, 1955. Her arrest in that incident helped spark the Montgomery bus boycott. After the boycott, Rosa and Raymond Parks moved to Hampton, Virginia, and then settled in Detroit. He died in 1977. She died in 2005.


The Hill
31 minutes ago
- The Hill
Israel, Iran trade strikes as Trump weighs US military involvement
Israel and Iran traded strikes on Friday as President Trump weighs the possibility of U.S. involvement and European officials seek to revive nuclear negotiations with Tehran. Israel said it hit 60 Iranian aircrafts early Friday morning along with the headquarters of the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, which carries out nuclear weapons research, according to the Associated Press. Iranian media said Israel's strikes also hit the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea early Friday. Reuters reported that at least one Iranian missile struck Beersheba, Israel's largest southern city, early Friday, ripping off the facade of at least one apartment complex and leaving a crater in a residential area. CNN reported it struck close to a tech park that houses a Microsoft office. Iran also struck near civilian sites in Haifa, injuring more than a dozen people and sending residents running for cover in a shopping mall, CNN reported. That followed an Iranian strike on Thursday that struck a hospital in Beersheba, wounding at least 80 patients and medical workers, according to Israeli officials. Israel's defense chief accused Iran of war crimes and said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be held accountable for the attack. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched overnight bombings in the heart of Tehran, along with the cities of Tabriz and Kermanshah, hitting 'missile storage and launch infrastructure components,' according to the AP. 'We are strengthening our air control in the region and advancing our air offensive,' Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told reporters, according to the AP. 'We have more sites to strike in Tehran, western Iran and other places.' Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, met with Britain's foreign secretary on Thursday to discuss diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is slated to meet with European leaders in Geneva to discuss a new nuclear deal. Iran earlier this month rejected U.S. proposals to effectively end its nuclear program, and move enrichment facilities outside the country. The White House on Thursday released a statement from President Trump saying he would decide within two weeks on whether to join Israel's war. Israel is pressuring the U.S. to deploy it's 'bunker buster' bombs on Iran's Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is key to its nuclear program and buried deep inside a mountain. While Trump has been publicly non-committal on resuming talks with Tehran, Araghci said Thursday the U.S. is pushing for diplomacy behind the scenes. 'It is the Americans who want talks,' he said, according to AP. 'They've sent messages several times — very serious ones — but we made it explicitly clear to them that as long as this aggression and invasion continue, there is absolutely no room for talk or diplomacy. We are engaged in legitimate self-defense, and this defense will not stop under any circumstances.' Earlier this week, Trump urged civilians to evacuate Tehran immediately, as the U.S. ordered a third U.S. Navy destroyer to the eastern portion of the Mediterranean Sea. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking near the damaged Beersheba hospital, said he trusted that Trump would 'do what's best for America.' 'I can tell you that they're already helping a lot,' he added.