00:00So, I ask you, Mr. President, why the hell can't you do your job too?
00:05Why can't you live up to the same level of proficiency as our troops?
00:09Look, I'm proud of every mission I completed in Iraq,
00:13but I would never, ever wish another endless, needless, unjustified war like the one I served in on anybody else.
00:20I realize that there's perhaps no greater proof that Donald Trump never deigned to serve a day in his life
00:27than the mockery he makes of the soldier's creed's commitments every single day he has been in office.
00:33Every moment that Donald Trump leaves our heroes mired in the muck of this illegal war of choice in Iran,
00:39he is showing that he cares more about saving his own face than leading our troops.
00:45Thank you, Mr. President.
00:46I've come to the floor today as a United States Senator, of course,
00:49but also as a former soldier who served in uniform the last time
00:53a president rashly sent our men and women into an unjustified war in the Middle East.
00:58I spent nearly a year at Walter Reed Army Medical Center recovering from the injuries I earned in Iraq.
01:05And every morning, as I struggled to sit up straight, every time I was rolled into yet another surgery,
01:11I made sure to read the poster I had next to my hospital bed.
01:15It was a framed copy of the soldier's creed,
01:18the words that those lucky enough to wear the Army uniform live by.
01:21That same framed copy now hangs by my desk here in D.C.
01:26And as I glanced at it this morning, I realized that there's perhaps no greater proof
01:31that Donald Trump never deigned to serve a day in his life
01:35than the mockery he makes of the soldier's creed's commitments every single day he has been in office.
01:40The creed may be associated with the Army,
01:43but the sentiments hold true for all of those who wear the uniform of this great nation.
01:48It's 13 lines tells us to be disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained, proficient,
01:55and to look out for those who look out for us, to look out for one another.
02:00Donald Trump is supposed to be our service member's commander-in-chief.
02:04The very, very least we should expect of him is to epitomize the standards
02:09that we ask our troops to swear by, to live by.
02:12The very, very least we should expect of the commander-in-chief
02:17is to be as competent, disciplined, and professional
02:20as the men and women whose very lives hinge on his capacity to lead,
02:25on that competence and professionalism we expect to see in the White House.
02:30The creed makes clear that our troops will never quit,
02:33that they will never leave a fallen comrade behind,
02:36yet Cadet Bonespurs is someone who will always quit.
02:41And every hour he orders our service members to remain in unnecessary growing danger,
02:46he is proving that Donald Trump does not give a damn about leaving a comrade,
02:52or so, so many comrades behind.
02:55Every moment that Donald Trump leaves our heroes
02:57mired in the muck of this illegal war of choice in Iran,
03:01he is showing that he cares more about saving his own face than leading our troops.
03:07So I come to the floor today with a simple question.
03:10Our military men and women go out there every day and do their jobs,
03:13no matter the risk, all on Donald Trump's orders.
03:17So, I ask you, Mr. President,
03:20why the hell can't you do your job too?
03:22Why can't you live up to the same level of proficiency as our troops?
03:27Look, I'm proud of every mission I completed in Iraq,
03:30but I would never, ever wish another endless, needless, unjustified war
03:35like the one I served in on anybody else.
03:38I wouldn't wish it on the heroes who are packing up their rocks right now,
03:41knowing they may never touch American soil again.
03:45I wouldn't wish it on their families who are being forced to spend their days
03:48anxiously awaiting news from half a world away.
03:51And I wouldn't wish it on the American people
03:54who want their president to focus on bringing the costs down here at home,
03:58not starting new, expensive, taxpayer-funded wars continents away.
04:03But Trump either doesn't understand, or he simply doesn't care about that.
04:07From the moment this conflict began,
04:09the president has tried to shroud his incompetence
04:12behind the valor of our service members.
04:16When asked to justify his illegal actions,
04:20Donald Trump's tried to hide his cowardice
04:22behind our hero's courage.
04:25He's tried to act as if questioning why we're at war
04:28is the same as questioning the skill and bravery of our troops themselves.
04:33It isn't.
04:34And I'm here to call bullshit on the president of the United States
04:37because I know that our military will always do the best job possible.
04:42When given a mission, our service members will say,
04:45yes, I will serve.
04:47They don't say, why me?
04:49They don't ask, will I be safe?
04:51No.
04:52They dust off their boots, they show up,
04:54and they do what's asked of them
04:56to the best of their ability every single time,
04:59time after time, tour after tour,
05:02no matter the risk, no matter the sacrifice.
05:05They will always, always execute their orders
05:08to the maximum capability of their professionalism,
05:11and they are proud to do it.
05:13That isn't the problem.
05:15The problem here is that the person who's supposed to be leading them
05:19spends more time talking about his Marie Antoinette ballroom
05:22than he does sitting in the Situation Room
05:24trying to get us out of this war.
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