In One Impassioned Tweetstorm, This Veteran Just Tore Apart Donald Trump's Latest Screed
A veteran of the Iraq War lashed out at Donald Trump on Wednesday, excoriating the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for suggesting veterans of the war embezzled money during their service.
Corbin Reiff — a music reporter who served in Iraq as a sergeant and paralegal in the U.S. Army from 2006 to 2011, according to his LinkedIn page — went on a 25-tweet rant about Trump's attack on Iraq War veterans, saying Trump's comments are not only "repellant" but also prove he has "neither the temperament, nor the character, to be commander in chief."
Read more: Donald Trump Feels the Backlash After Accusing U.S. Troops in Iraq of Embezzling Money
Reiff's rant came in response to comments Trump made at a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Tuesday, accusing American troops in Iraq of embezzling money that was intended to be doled out to Iraqis harmed by the war.
Reiff said at the age of 21, he was entrusted to "assess damage to Iraqi citizen's property and person and compensate them monetarily."
He said the job was both physically and emotionally taxing.
"I had to look widows and orphans in the eye as tears ran down their cheeks telling me through an interpreter their heartbreaking stories," Reiff wrote.
And he said it put him and his fellow troops in near constant danger.
Reiff went on to link to the comments Trump made that seemed to accuse soldiers of embezzling the money meant for Iraqis and vehemently pushed back on the allegations, saying not only did he not embezzle funds, but there were "procedures that were put in place to prevent that from happening."
He added that for Trump, who did not serve in the military, lacks the "temperament" and "character" to lead the country.
And he charged that Trump's claim that he is a support of veterans is "lip sevice entirely."
Twitter users — including members of Congress — praised Reiff's Trump tirade, calling it a "must-read."
The flap is just the latest in a series of missteps Trump has made over the past few weeks — including suggesting that President Barack Obama is a terrorist sympathizer, and calling for an even stricter ban on Muslim immigrants in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Orlando.
And the unforced errors have begun to take their toll on Trump's popularity and poll numbers.
A Bloomberg survey released Tuesday afternoon showed Trump losing to presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by 12 percentage points.