Fact check: Trump says Blumenthal lied (he did) and bragged (he didn’t)
Jane C. Timm, 30 September 2018
President Donald Trump attacked Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., for misleading voters, making some false claims of his own in the process.
“Senator Richard Blumenthal must talk about his fraudulent service in Vietnam, where for 12 years he told the people of Connecticut, as their Attorney General, that he was a great Marine War Hero. Talked about his many battles of near death, but was never in Vietnam. Total Phony!” Trump tweeted.
Senator Richard Blumenthal must talk about his fraudulent service in Vietnam, where for 12 years he told the people of Connecticut, as their Attorney General, that he was a great Marine War Hero. Talked about his many battles of near death, but was never in Vietnam. Total Phony!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 29, 2018
The president has made similar remarks on Blumenthal’s admitted falsehoods — we fact checked another claim last year — but the president exaggerated them even further on Monday, saying the senator had once claimed to be a war hero.
Blumenthal did lead voters in Connecticut to believe he was a Vietnam veteran when, in fact, he was never deployed to Vietnam. He obtained at least five deferments and later served in the Marine Reserve in the Washington area, according to a New York Times article in 2010.
