The Veterans of Foreign Wars fragged its own veteran members for booing the media during President Donald Trump’s speech Tuesday to their annual convention being held in Kansas City, Missouri.
The VFW posted two statements to Twitter Tuesday afternoon attacking veterans for booing the media. The first was in response to Military Times deputy editor Lea Shane. The second was a formal statement by the VFW condemning veterans.
“Today, we were disappointed to hear some of our members boo the press during President Trump’s remarks. We rely on the media to spread the VFW message, and @CNN, @NBCNews, @ABC, @FoxNews, @CBSNews, & others on site today, were our invited guests. We were happy to have them there.”
Today, we were disappointed to hear some of our members boo the press during President Trump's remarks. We rely on the media to spread the VFW message, and @CNN, @NBCNews, @ABC, @FoxNews, @CBSNews, & others on site today, were our invited guests. We were happy to have them there.
— VFW National HQ (@VFWHQ) July 24, 2018
The first VFW attack on veterans was prompted by Shane, who keyed off a tweet by Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Kesling who whined about the press being booed, “VFW convention attendees now booing the media. This morning I attended a House VA Committee hearing in order to make sure VA officials answered my questions abut the claims appeals process and complaints that it isn’t serving vets properly.”
Shane called out the VFW, “Not a good look for @VFWHQ. #VFWConvention”
The VFW replied, “Agreed. We were disappointed to hear some of our members boo the press. We rely on the media to help spread the VFW’s message, and @CNN, @NBCNews, @ABC, @FoxNews, @CBSNews, and others on site today, were our invited guests. We were happy to have them there.”
https://twitter.com/bkesling/status/1021808794551169026
Not a good look for @VFWHQ. #VFWConvention https://t.co/nnHmsneDR7
— Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) July 24, 2018
Agreed. We were disappointed to hear some of our members boo the press. We rely on the media to help spread the VFW's message, and @CNN, @NBCNews, @ABC, @FoxNews, @CBSNews, and others on site today, were our invited guests. We were happy to have them there.
— VFW National HQ (@VFWHQ) July 24, 2018
Video of VFW members booing media:
ABC News reported a VFW statement from Randi Law using similar language to the attacks on veterans by the VFW on Twitter.
The president, who received cheers as he attacked “fake news”, urged the audience to reject completely any stories they see covered in the news media that might be negative towards him.
“Don’t believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news,” Trump said, as the audience mostly comprised of veterans and their families booed and heckled reporters in the press pen. “Just remember, what you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.”
Following the president’s departure from Kansas City, the VFW issued a statement saying it was “disappointed” that audience members booed the reporters in the convention center.
“We were disappointed to hear some of our members boo the press,” Randi Law, Manager of Communications and Public Affairs for VFW told ABC News. “The reporters onsite today were our invited guests and we rely on them to help spread the VFW’s message.”
