Donald Trump snarled about seeing a severely wounded veteran sing at an event held during his presidency at a military base.
The former president attended the welcome ceremony for Gen. Mark Milley as he assumed the role of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in late 2019, and Milley had chosen U.S. Army Capt. Luis Avila to sing “God Bless America," according to a lengthy profile of published in The Atlantic.
"Avila, who had completed five combat tours, had lost a leg in an IED attack in Afghanistan, and had suffered two heart attacks, two strokes, and brain damage as a result of his injuries," wrote editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg. "To Milley, and to four-star generals across the Army, Avila and his wife, Claudia, represented the heroism, sacrifice, and dignity of wounded soldiers."
The ground was soft from rain earlier in the day, and Avila's wheelchair at one point nearly toppled over, and Milley's wife Hollyanne and then-vice president Mike Pence ran over to help.
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
"After Avila’s performance, Trump walked over to congratulate him, but then said to Milley, within earshot of several witnesses, 'Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, the wounded,'" Goldberg wrote. "Never let Avila appear in public again, Trump told Milley."
Recently, however, Milley invited Avila to sing at his retirement ceremony.
