Haley Campaign Press Release - General Don Bolduc: "I went through Ranger School with bone spurs"

CHARLESTON, S.C. — With the U.S.S. Yorktown in the background, General Don Bolduc and his wife, Sharon Bolduc, held a press conference denouncing Donald Trump's mocking of military families and the negative impact it has on our servicemen and women.

"Donald Trump sought deferments for bone spurs. Well, I went through Ranger School with bone spurs," said General Bolduc. "The men and women that I serve with – the men and women that I know, and the family members that I know – serve their country and will do it whether they are hurt, whether they are hurting… it does not matter, because they place service, freedom, and liberty above anything else."

General Bolduc retired as a Brigadier General in the United States Army. During his 10 tours of duty in Afghanistan, he earned five Bronze Stars, two Awards for Valor and two Purple Hearts.

Watch the full press conference here.

General Bolduc on Major Michael Haley's service…

"I know [Maj. Haley] is in a combat zone and hostile fire zone because that is what I worked so hard to get East Africa recognized as. I had service members wounded there. And a lot of Americans don't realize that in Africa, we have our service members serving in harm's way, just like we did in Afghanistan and Iraq and many other places. And so Michael is there doing his job for his country. And the comments that President Trump made about Michael's service, knowing full well where Michael was and trying to attribute that to some other characterization is absolutely disgraceful."

General Bolduc on Donald Trump's history of insulting service members…

"But we also know that's not the first time that Donald Trump has done this. He's done it to Senator McCain, who in his service he became a POW, and President Trump made disparaging comments about that. That was absolutely wrong. And then we know he made terrible comments about the Marines in Belleau Woods, and that he refused to go out and recognize the sacrifice of Americans in France at cemeteries. And that was absolutely wrong…And then we have Donald Trump making disparaging comments and not fully understanding the sacrifice of Sergeant Johnson during the Niger ambush. And that's absolutely wrong.

"And then wondering why wounded warriors are out in Arlington Cemetery. Well, I'll tell you why they're out there, Mr. Trump. They're out there because they're honoring the service members that they served with that didn't make it back. And they're out there missing their arms and their legs and eyes and so on and so forth because they left something on a battlefield, their flesh, their blood, their comrades. That's what they're out there for, Mr. Former President."

General Bolduc on military families…

"What [Donald Trump says] about veterans, what you say about service members, what you said about Nikki Haley, what you said about her husband Michael, hurts. To my wife, Sharon, who is a veteran, and she was by my side from 1989 when I commissioned as a second lieutenant – we were married shortly after that – all the way up to my retirement in 2017. And she was at home while I was deployed on 10 tours, going to the memorial ceremonies, personally consoling the family members. And to disparage [military families], to say anything negative about them is absolutely wrong."

General Bolduc on what's at stake in the primary election…

"Biden is not an option, and Trump is not an option. They're too divisive, they have grievances, they will tear this country apart from within…This is serious business. The security of our country. And a President of the United States that can't honor its fallen and those that have served is someone who should not be President of the United States.

"I ask the Republicans, the Independents and the Democrats that are eligible to vote in the primary coming up here in South Carolina, that they do a lot of soul-searching. Do you want someone who has honor and integrity and has served your state well and did a great job by the people here? And then went off to the UN and did a great job and took the 'kick me' sign off of America, and held China, Russia, North Korea, Iran to a standard and who knows the sacrifices of our service members and knows what it means to be Commander-in-Chief? She was a Commander-in-Chief here and her husband deployed to Afghanistan, he's a combat veteran. She knows and she will take care of our service members."