Republican governor criticizes Donald Trump’s “stupid comments”

Republican New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu on Sunday rejected former President Donald Trump's recent “stupid remarks” that the Presidential Medal of Freedom is “better” than the Medal of Honor.

At a campaign rally in New Jersey on Thursday, Republican presidential candidate Trump said the Presidential Medal of Freedom was a “better” award than the Department of Defense's (DOD) Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration of the U.S. armed forces and is awarded to recognize members of the American armed forces who have distinguished themselves “by outstanding gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their lives above and beyond the call of duty.”

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded to civilians “who have made extraordinary contributions to the security or national interests of America, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

“It's the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor,” the former president said of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “But the civilian version is actually much better because everyone who receives the Congressional Medal of Honor is a soldier. They're either in very bad shape because they've been hit by bullets so many times, or they're dead.”

Add: “[Adelson] she gets, and she's a healthy, beautiful woman, and they're judged equally, but she got the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”

Trump was referring to Miriam Adelson, a Republican donor whom he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018 for opening two research centers to curb drug abuse, as well as the work of the Adelson Medical Research Foundation, which was founded to combat life-threatening diseases.

In an interview with CNN's On the state of the nation On Sunday, Sununu dismissed Trump's comments, adding that while these were not his first “stupid comments,” they would not change the tide of this year's election campaign.

When asked by CNN host Jake Tapper if he agreed with the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), who called Trump's comments “idiotic,” Sununu said, “Yes, they are idiotic comments. There's no doubt about that.”

The Republican governor added: “I don't think these are the first moronic comments former President Trump has ever made. I don't think they're going to have a decisive impact on the election. When you talk about what it takes for someone to stand up and protect this country, it's unparalleled. As far as this honor goes, it's unparalleled, especially when you're talking about the Congressional Medal of Honor.”

Sununu also gave the former president some advice: If he were to turn to the military again, he should focus on what was needed to “keep America strong.”

“If Trump ever addresses the military issue, he needs to focus on what it takes to keep America strong in the world. How to keep world peace in dangerous places like Ukraine or Israel. Making comparisons like that is completely out of line. I don't think it will do much good politically in terms of winning votes. He's said crazy things like that before,” he said.

Newsweek has emailed Sununu's office and Trump's campaign team for comment.

Trump's recent comments have drawn widespread criticism. VFW National Commander Al Lipphardt sharply criticized his comments, saying they diminished the significance of the award.

“These moronic comments not only diminish the significance of our nation's highest award for valor, but also blatantly portray the sacrifices of those who risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty,” Lipphardt said in a statement on the group's website.

In addition, Veterans for Responsible Leadership (VFRL), a non-partisan Super PAC, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that Trump considers the Medal of Honor “secondary to the medal he awards to his billionaire donors. He doesn't care about our military or its sacrifices.”

Following this backlash, Trump defended his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, who served for four years as a combat correspondent in the Marine Corps.

“He's a man who loves our veterans and honors them,” he said Friday at a Milwaukee Police Association event. “I don't think he's in any way disparaging the people who have been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom when he compliments them and says a nice word about them.”

This is not the first time that Trump has been at the center of controversy surrounding the country's armed forces.

Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly, who left office in December 2018 after a falling out with the former president and has been a critic since then, has pointed to past comments by Trump disparaging U.S. soldiers and veterans, an accusation Trump called “fake.”

“I went out and told people the horrible things he said about wounded soldiers, and it didn't take half a day for it to get through… I think we're in a dangerous zone in our country,” the retired four-star general said in November 2023.

Meanwhile, Trump had dismissed Kelly's criticism a day earlier as “lies” and “fake news” after publicly repeating Trump's alleged statements about US troops to CNN.