Myeshia Johnson: I Have ‘Nothing to Say’ to Trump After Controversial Call
Myeshia Johnson, the pregnant widow of the late Sgt. La David Johnson, spoke out during an interview on Good Morning America Monday, affirming Rep. Frederica Wilson’s statements last week about a botched condolence call with President Trump – an account he has repeatedly refuted.
“I heard his stumbling on trying to remember my husband’s name, and that’s what hurt me the most – because if my husband is out here fighting for our country and he risked his life for our country, why can’t you remember his name?” Johnson said, adding that she was “very angry” about Trump’s phone call. “That’s what made me upset and cry even more, because my husband was an awesome soldier.”
Earlier this month, Sgt. Johnson’s death made headlines after Wilson made public the details of Trump and Johnson’s call; Wilson claimed that the president had been callous, telling the widow that Sgt. Johnson “knew what he was signing up for.”
Trump has since blasted Wilson for her claims, calling her version of events “a total fabrication”; the morning after Sgt. Johnson’s funeral, he even called Wilson “wacky” on Twitter.
But on Monday, Johnson backed up Wilson’s account of the conversation, noting that Master Sgt. Neil, her aunt, her uncle and a driver were all in a limo – en route to receive his casket – when Trump made the call, which she had put on speakerphone so that her family could listen in.
“The president said that he knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyways,” she told GMA’s George Stephanopoulos. “It made me cry because I was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said it.”
Johnson added that she bit her tongue during the exchange. “I didn’t say anything. I just listened,” she said.
Immediately following Johnson’s GMA appearance, Trump took to Twitter to refute her claims, writing, “I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!”
Sgt. Johnson was one of four U.S. soldiers killed on October 4th after being attacked by Niger Islamic State Militants. Compounding her grief, his widow said she has been left largely in the dark since being notified of his death, and has yet to see his body.
“They won’t show me a finger, a hand,” she said. “I know my husband’s body from head to toe and they won’t let me see anything.”