Rubio Campaign Press Release - Donald Trump Laughs at POW/MIA Familiess and Vets — Marco Rubio Will Honor Them

No group of Americans deserves greater respect than those who've put their lives on the line to defend our country. Among them, special respect should be accorded to those who have been taken prisoner by the enemy or gone missing in action, leaving their families without even knowing their fate.

And yet, somehow that's not what we've seen from some this election: The Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, has made disparaging comments about one of America's former POWs, Senator John McCain. McCain spent more than five years in a Communist Vietnamese prison camp, subjected to torture and solitary confinement — and Donald Trump said he thought he was "not a war hero," unworthy of our gratitude.

This wasn't just an attack on John McCain — it was an attack on all POW/MIAs. In other greatest hits, Trump has said his military prep school involved more work than actually being in the military and received an exceptional number of Vietnam draft deferments. He's also claimed to raise millions for veterans groups, when much of the money has never been given to veterans.

Marco, whose older brother Mario served as a Green Beret during the Vietnam era, will not only honor the service of our veterans, and honor POW/MIA servicemembers and their families. He'll fight for them on their issues, not let them down like the current president or just offer empty promises like Trump. Marco has already won important victories in the battle for VA reform — thanks to his work, senior VA officials not doing their jobs properly can now be fired — and he has laid out real ideas and principles for reforming the VA. In the Senate, he's also fought for the recognition veterans deserve: For instance, he secured a Congressional Gold Medal for the 65th Infantry Regiment, the "Borinqueneers," a segregated unit of mostly Puerto Rican soldiers who had not received the same benefits and honors as those they served alongside in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.

We need a president who will honor and respect the men and women who've put their lives on the line to defend our country. That's what Marco Rubio will do — and to judge by his record right up through this election, Donald Trump won't.