On "The Rachel Maddow Show" Thursday evening, the MSNBC host tracked Donald Trump's outrageous statements about the military alongside his rallies in support of veterans and found that more often than not, they directly coincide -- and are utterly fraudulent.
She began by noting that after he knocked former GOP presidential candidate and prisoner of war John McCain for being a "loser" for getting captured during the Vietnam War, Trump demanded that CNN pay him $5 million to appear at the next debate, money he said he would donate to veterans groups.
The group in question, Veterans for a Strong America, vigorously defended Trump and his comments, and the day before the debate, Trump did a fundraiser for the group, at which he claimed that they represented "hundreds of thousands of veterans." Of course, it did not.
When the IRS attacked the group for not having paid taxes since 2010, it dissolved as an organization, only to reappear months later as "Vets for a Strong America," but on its incorporation form, noted that it was a corporation "that would not have members."
It appears, she concluded, that his decision to collect donations for veterans through his Donald J. Trump Foundation last night is not a new cynical tactic, but an old one re-purposed to the same ends.
Watch the entire segment below via MSNBC.
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