Clinton camp blasts Trump over PTSD comments

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign lashed out at Donald Trump on Tuesday over the Republican nominee’s comments about post-traumatic stress disorder, accusing him of diminishing “the suffering some veterans face after serving their country.”

{mosads}Clinton campaign adviser and Iraq War veteran Bishop Garrison said in a statement that Trump’s comments fit a pattern of denigrating the military.

“It’s no surprise that someone who attacked a Gold Star family, who insulted prisoners of war, and who dismissed the impact of [improvised explosive device] attacks on soldiers in armored vehicles would diminish the suffering some veterans face after serving our country,” Garrison said.

“Living with post-traumatic stress disorder does not make anyone weak — period.”

Trump was widely criticized for comments he made while speaking to a veterans’ group in Virginia on Monday. During the event, he was asked if he would take a “holistic” approach to combating PTSD.

“Look, we need that so badly, and when you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see maybe what people in this room have seen many times over — and you’re strong and you can handle it — but a lot of people can’t handle it and they see horror stories,” Trump responded. 

“They see events that you’d see in a movie and you wouldn’t believe it. We need mental health help, and medical — it’s one of the things that’s least addressed, and it’s one of the things I hear most about when I go around and talk to veterans.”

The Trump campaign responded to attacks over the comment by saying it was taken out of context.

“The media continues to operate as the propaganda arm of Hillary Clinton as they took Mr. Trump’s words out of context in order to deceive voters and veterans — an appalling act that shows they are willing to go to any length to carry water for their candidate of choice,” retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, a surrogate for the campaign, said in a statement.