The wife of fallen U.S. solider Sgt. La David Johnson finally addressed her version of that now infamous condolence call between her and President Donald Trump.
In an interview Monday with George Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America,” Myeshia Johnson said President Trump did say her husband “knew what he signed up for” and that it left her deeply hurt.
“The president said that he knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyways and it made me cry because I was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said it,” she said. “He couldn’t remember my husband’s name. The only way he remembered my husband’s name is because he told me he had my husband’s report in front of him.”
Johnson said that the president’s fumbling over her husband’s name also left her insulted and that her congresswoman, U.S. Rep Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), had accurately reported what happened because she was present during the phone call.
“Whatever Ms. Wilson said was not fabricated. What she said was 100 percent correct,” said Johnson. “The phone was on speakerphone. Why would we fabricate something like that?”
It appears that Trump, a compulsive morning television critic, also watched the interview, tweeting out Monday morning a denial that he had fumbled on La David’s name.
“I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!” the president wrote.
I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2017
The interview is the latest chapter in an ongoing saga over what exactly Trump told Johnson on the phone while she was being driven to meet the casket of her husband.
After Wilson, a family friend, first reported the “he knew was he signed up for” comment, Trump responded with a forceful denial and spent much of the weekend disparaging the congresswoman as “wacky” on Twitter.
I hope the Fake News Media keeps talking about Wacky Congresswoman Wilson in that she, as a representative, is killing the Democrat Party!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 21, 2017
Watch the full interview above.