Combat veteran Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) unloaded into President Donald Trump and the chain of command Saturday morning for downplaying reports of brutal conditions service members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln are facing amid a prolonged deployment in the Middle East.
The president refuted concerns of low supplies and mental anguish among service members during a brief exchange with reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday. He told the press that USS Lincoln’s uninterrupted deployment since November was “not nearly long enough.”
“Typical from a draft dodger, not a surprise,” Moulton said on MS NOW Saturday. “He’s going to spend his weekend at his luxury golf course, not thinking one bit about the troops who he’s put in harm’s way for a war of choice that he and Hegseth are losing.”
Service members onboard the vessel have endured more than 240 days at sea. Some have attempted to go overboard, the Military Times reported.
Annabelle Loma, the wife of a service member who attempted to jump from the ship, told the outlet that her husband believed “he’ll get a dishonorable discharge, and just because he was burnt out, his 13-year career is ruined, just like that.”
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao announced on Friday that the USS Lincoln will return home soon as part of a planned rotation, claiming that the deployment “was extended because the mission demanded it.”
He added that “Sailors and Marines are expected to dig deep — and they always do.“
“Unfortunately, the media are trying to paint our warriors as victims,” Cao wrote. “Not only is that dishonest but it takes away the focus on the enemy and the threat it poses against our nation, people, and way of life.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also watered down the concerns as “completely misrepresented,” adding that his department makes “sure every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment.”
Moulton, a former Marine, bashed the chain of command that he said did not have “any clue how to end this war.”
“The president, the commander in chief, is more worried about his golf game this weekend. Secretary Hegseth has been in the jungle filming promo videos when he should be aboard the Abraham Lincoln, understanding exactly what’s going on. The Navy secretary seems totally out of touch with reality here,” he said.