FULL INTERVIEW between @GStephanopoulos and Myeshia Johnson, widow of fallen soldier Sgt. La David Johnson: https://t.co/8fRPhejRl8 pic.twitter.com/8UzCwVDGVp
— Good Morning America (@GMA) October 23, 2017
The widow of Sgt. La David Johnson spoke publicly for the first time since her husband was killed nearly three weeks ago, telling Good Morning America on Monday that the president’s condolence message last week made her “cry even worse” after hearing him struggle to remember Johnson’s name.
“I heard him stumbling on trying to remember my husband’s name and that’s what hurt me the most, because if my husband is out here fighting for our country, and he risked his life for our country, why can’t you remember his name,” Myeshia Johnson said.
“That’s what made me upset and cry even more, because my husband was an awesome soldier,” she added.
She also confirmed Rep. Frederica Wilson’s account of the phone call. in which she claimed President Donald Trump told Johnson’s wife that her husband “knew what he had signed up for.” Wilson is a close family friend and was riding in the car to receive Johnson’s remains when Trump called.
“Whatever Ms. Wilson said was not fabricated,” Johnson said. “What she said was 100 percent correct.”
Trump tweeted a response to Johnson’s television appearance on Monday to refute her account that he did not know her husband’s name.
I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2017
During a rare press conference on Thursday, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly appeared to confirm Trump’s controversial remarks, but slammed Wilson for using the death of a fallen soldier to grandstand. Trump has vehemently denied Wilson’s account, adding that he has proof that she “fabricated” the story.
