Trump Shows How Much He Really Cares About Veterans

So if he didn’t raise the full $6 million, why doesn’t he just write a check and make up the difference? Hell, why wasn’t that his first instinct?

No matter how much he’s fallen short, the difference should be a drop in the bucket to Trump. He’s already spent $43 million of his own fortune on his campaign for the White House. (Technically it’s a loan, but he’s said he won’t pay it back now that he’s raising money from the exact same special interests he claimed he wouldn’t be beholden to because he’s just so darned rich.)

Why didn’t Trump come right out when the story broke and say, “Here’s the rest”? He could have easily turned a negative story into a positive one. It would’ve been the right thing to do.

But when was the last thing Donald Trump did the right thing? His values, if they exist at all, are inside out and backwards. He’s stuck in the world’s worst feedback loop, surrounded by sycophants, with millions of suckers buying his shtick.

And it is a shtick. Trump’s professed love for veterans is a perfect example. He makes a show — a literal television show — out of his devotion to vets. But his real feelings came out in that unguarded moment where he made fun of John McCain’s stint as a prisoner of war. Someone who has given a moment’s thought to the sacrifices and challenges of veterans would never, ever have said what he said.

It’s not about the money. Trump may have given money to veterans’ organizations in the past — though, according to data shared by his own campaign, his charitable giving is better measured in rounds of golf than actual dollars. (His tax returns would shed more light on this, but we’re not going to see them, ever.)

It’s about values. It’s about using veterans as a prop for his campaign, lying about how much money he raised for them, and then not fixing his lie once he was caught. It would have been easy.

After all, in case you hadn’t heard, Trump is very rich.