New Hampshire Veterans’ Charity Attacked by Donald Trump’s Rabid Supporters
Photo by Michael Vadon on Flickr/Creative Commons
When Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump announced that he would not participate in the Fox News debate moderated by Megyn Kelly last month, he pivoted and said he would instead hold an event benefiting the troops. When some of those service members declined to be props in Trump’s crypto-facist song-and-dance revue, his supports went stark raving mad.
The Daily Beast published a disturbing story Tuesday detailing what happens when Trump’s supporters coalesce to attack those who fought overseas while the man who’d one day sell steaks out of the Sharper Image avoided the draft at Wharton because he may or may not have had bone spurs. The executive director of one group, who asked to remain anonymous, said they were flooded with phone calls from Trump trolls calling them “faggots” and making threats of physical violence at their next event.
Another veterans group targeted was the Liberty House of Manchester, New Hampshire, which helps clothe the homeless, feed the hungry, and provide housing for formerly homeless vets. A relatively small charity, Liberty House operates on a $300,000 annual budget. Executive director Keith Howard, an Army vet, told the Daily Beast he received similar backlash after refusing to appear onstage with Trump at an event, in which he would receive a six-figure check, because he didn’t want his group to appear politicized by appearing at a campaign rally. That reasoning didn’t sit well with Trump supporters, who deluged Howard with angry emails.
“So….you bunch of losers who can’t get on with your life except for bitchin’ about how mistreated you are don’t want Mr. Trump’s money. Well then shut the fuck up about what you don’t have and what you’ve done for your country. I hope all your funding dries up. You’d rather whine than be men,” wrote one angry individual by email, before calling the organization “sissies.”
Howard later negotiated to receive the donation in a lower-key drop-off.
