Trump’s Photo-Op In Iraq Backfires As His Approval Rating Among The Military Is At All-Time Low

Donald Trump may have been shamed into finally visiting American troops in a combat zone in Iraq, but his repeated snubbing of the military has clearly taken its toll.

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As Democratic Rep. Anthony Brown of Maryland said during an interview with MSNBC’s Ari Melber on Wednesday, Trump’s habit of using the military for political purposes is “why the president’s approval ratings among active duty military is at an all-time low.”

Brown said, “There’s a real disconnect between this commander-in-chief and the men and women who raised their right hand to serve our country.”

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The Democratic congressman said:

I’m very concerned about [Trump using the military for political purposes]. And I think troops also are concerned, and that’s why the president’s approval ratings among active duty military is at an all-time low. The president has talked about using the military for a nationwide parade in the nation’s capital. Sending troops to the southwest border when there isn’t a real threat, not the kind of threats you see in Afghanistan or Syria, and so troops get it. They’re knowledgeable. They have access to information. And but for the recent visit with the first lady and the president in Iraq today, he’d gone nearly two years without visiting troops in a combat zone. There’s a real disconnect between this commander-in-chief and the men and women who raised their right hand to serve our country.

Trump’s approval rating among the military is falling

According to an October poll from the Military Times, Donald Trump’s approval rating among active duty members of the military has steadily fallen over the past two years.

The survey shows that just 44 percent approve of his job performance, while 43 percent disapprove – a complete evaporation of the nine-point margin of support he had in the same poll more than two years ago.

As Democratic Rep. Anthony Brown noted on Wednesday, the troops aren’t dumb. They know when the commander-in-chief is using them for political purposes, whether its to propose some authoritarian fantasy of a parade, pull them out of Syria via Twitter, or drop in for a photo-op after being shamed into it.

Time after time, Trump has shown that he only cares about the military when he can use them for his own political benefit – and when it’s not raining.

Donald Trump may have campaigned on the promise of being a tough commander-in-chief, but even the military is increasingly waking up to the reality that this president is weak and unfit.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.