Donald Trump lashed out at multiple targets Wednesday, just after attending the dignified transfer of two U.S. soldiers and a civilian interpreter killed in Syria last week.
Trump, 79, criticized Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Baptist pastor, over a Meet the Press interview in which he described how faith can help bridge the country’s divides. The president also rehashed grievances against NBC News’ Kristen Welker and that network in general.
In his interview Sunday with “a one sided and very biased” Welker, Trump began, Warnock “spent the entire show using Religion to try and divide the Country.”
“If a Republican, in particular ME, made those statements, it would be FRONT PAGE NEWS,” he wrote at 3:47 p.m., about seven minutes before disembarking Air Force One upon its return from the transfer ceremony at Delaware’s Dover Air Force Base.
“He ended by saying that he was going to his Church to preach now, and while I think that’s fine, I do say, ‘What ever happened to separation of Church and State?’ That would be the first thing they would use against us but, actually, it’s something that never much bothered me,” wrote Trump, who said at the beginning of his term that religion should be brought “back.”
After calling Warnock, 56, a “bad guy” and mentioning a dispute with his now ex-wife, Trump said NBC “should be ashamed of themselves in allowing garbage ‘interviews’ with untalented and uncaring people to take place.”
The president, who continues to fight with various television networks in part by threatening to revoke their broadcast licenses, added, “The Public airwaves, which these Networks are using at no charge, should not be allowed to get away with this any longer! They should be properly licensed, and pay significant amounts of money for using this very valuable Public space.”
Warnock, in a video posted a few hours later, said Trump has “a lot of nerve.”
“This is the same president who literally had peaceful protesters gassed and beaten so he could stand in front of a church holding up a Bible,” he continued, referring to the June 2020 incident outside the White House. “He ought to read the Bible that he was holding up on that day.”
“My faith is not a weapon,” Warnock added. “It’s a bridge. And I invite you to Bible study.”
Trump—but not the first lady—attended the dignified transfer Wednesday afternoon to honor Iowa National Guard soldiers Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, and William Nathaniel Howard, 29. Also returning to the U.S. was the body of civilian interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat of Michigan.
In his first term, Trump did not attend the solemn ceremony very often. According to a September 2020 Huffington Post review of Air Force records, he attended only four of 96 during his first term. He reportedly stopped going after he was berated by the father of a fallen Navy Seal in 2017.
