By Chad Robichaux
American veterans have a bright future under Donald Trump, but a dim one under Joe Biden.
President Trump has completely reversed the Obama-Biden administration’s neglect of America’s military and veterans, which resulted in at least 35 veterans dying while waiting for routine medical treatment in the Phoenix area alone. Since that scandal was exposed in 2014, the Phoenix VA has undergone a “tremendous transformation” thanks to the current administration’s reforms.
During his first year in office, the President signed the Forever GI Bill, giving veterans a better path to higher education. The following year, he signed the VA Mission Act — legislation that vastly improved healthcare access for veterans.
President Trump has also kept his pledge to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) while at the same time securing record funding for veterans programs. In fact, the 2019 VA fiscal budget surpassed $200 billion for the first time ever, and included meaningful investments in the department’s healthcare, opioid abuse prevention, digital records, and other crucial programs. In addition, the administration secured nearly $10 billion in funding for mental health services this year, allowing VA facilities to offer same-day mental health screenings.
Today, the President and his team continue to address the veteran suicide crisis, implementing new initiatives to help veterans cope with the wide variety of mental health issues that uniquely afflict our nation’s heroes. One of these programs is the new PREVENTS Task Force — the product of a year-long effort by a Cabinet-level task force to “End the National Tragedy of Suicide” among veterans.
“This historic campaign will mobilize every sector of American society to encourage heroes in need, empower them with the best prevention practices, and help every veteran thrive in their lives after service,” Trump explained last month.
“There is no single solution to this issue; every resource must be brought to bear,” he continued. “We’re expanding our partnerships with military and veteran organizations, universities, faith-based leaders, businesses, nonprofits at all levels of government to establish specialized support systems for our veterans.”
Unlike Biden, President Trump also understands that our country can’t protect its veterans if it can’t protect its own history. During his Independence Day address at Mount Rushmore, the President reiterated the importance of safeguarding American values, pledging to defend our nation’s historic monuments from the anarchist mobs seeking to deface and destroy them.
“Today, we pay tribute to the exceptional lives and extraordinary legacies of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt,” he said. “I am here as your President to proclaim before the country and before the world: This monument will never be desecrated, these heroes will never be defaced, their legacy will never, ever be destroyed, their achievements will never be forgotten, and Mount Rushmore will stand forever as an eternal tribute to our forefathers and to our freedom.”
By contrast, in a Democrat-run America that has taken an openly anti-American position, U.S. soldiers returning from the battlefield would be greeted as oppressors and tyrants, rather than the heroes they truly are. Media talking heads and establishment politicians would likely condemn their cause and vilify their actions. In a radical society like the one envisioned by the thugs who looted our businesses and vandalized our monuments in recent weeks, the word “veteran” would become as profane as the word “police.”
Arizona is home to more than half a million veterans, all of whom would be treated like pariahs — or worse — if the Democrats take control.
One would expect the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee to reject this vision for America. One would expect a former vice president to condemn the ongoing efforts to erase our nation’s history. One would expect Joe Biden to disavow the activists who are calling for the removal of monuments that celebrate our country’s greatness. Yet, he does none of those things.
During Joe Biden’s time as vice president I personally witnessed the Obama-Biden administration cut life-saving programs for our nation’s veterans, resulting in the increase of veteran suicides to 22 per day.
Biden doesn’t even pretend to care about the principles that America’s veterans sacrificed so much of themselves to defend.
Chad is a former Force Recon Marine and DoD Contractor with eight deployments to Afghanistan as part of a Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) Task Force and is also a former professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Champion. He is president and founder of Mighty Oaks Foundation, one of the most impactful nonprofit organizations serving our military and first responder communities.