1988 CALLED

Michael Dukakis Hits Back at ‘Absolutely Gutless’ Trump After New Tank Joke

Former Dem nominee rebukes “draft-dodger-in-chief” after unprovoked attack in Ohio.

Former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Michael Dukakis has hit back at “draft-dodger-in-chief” Donald Trump after the president ridiculed him Wednesday. Trump mocked Dukakis’ infamous 1988 tank photo-call during his visit to an Ohio army tank plant, saying the former Democratic nominee ‘‘tanked when he got into the tank.’’ Observers thought Dukakis’ comical appearance contributed to his defeat by George H.W. Bush. But Dukakis has issued a cutting response, telling the Boston Globe: “I call Trump these days the draft-dodger-in-chief. While thousands of young Americans were fighting and dying in Vietnam, he was doing everything he could not to serve. Like thousands of young Americans, I served in the military, 16 months of which were seven miles from the DMZ in Korea.” Dukakis, now a professor at Northeastern University, went on: “His attacks on John McCain are disgusting .. John McCain served his country nobly and well. He spent five years in a cage in Vietnam. And Trump’s continued attacks on him are just another example of someone who has no sense of honor, no sense of integrity, and is absolutely gutless.”