Rod Stewart Demands ‘Draft Dodger’ Trump Apologize to UK Troops After Afghanistan Criticism | Video
Sir Rod Stewart ripped into Donald Trump for suggesting that U.K. troops avoided the front lines during the war in Afghanistan.
“I may just be a humble rock star, but I’m also a Knight of the realm and I have my opinions,” he said in a video uploaded to Instagram Friday. “I was born just after the war and I have great respect for our armed forces that fought and gave us our freedom. So it hurts me badly, deeply, when I read that draft dodger Trump has criticized our troops in Afghanistan for not being on the front line.”
As Stewart continued, he highlighted that over 400 service personnel from the United Kingdom died while serving in Afghanistan amid the nearly 20-year conflict.
“Think of their parents. Think about it,” he said. “And Trump calls them almost, like, cowards. It’s unbearable. So, I’m calling on you, Prime Minister [Keir] Starmer and [Nigel] Farage, please make the draft dodger Trump apologize. Please.”
Stewart’s remarks came after Trump suggested on Thursday that soldiers from other NATO countries avoided the front lines during the Afghanistan war.
“We’ve never needed them, we have never really asked anything of them,” Trump said to Fox while in Davos, Switzerland. “You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that, and they did — they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.”
Stewart isn’t the only notable name to rebuke Trump in the aftermath of his comments. Prime Minister Starmer also spoke out against the president, calling his remarks “insulting” and “frankly appalling.”
He added: “I am not surprised they have caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured and, in fact, across the country.”
Prince Harry also appeared to address the controversy, though he did not name Trump, directly.
“I served there. I made lifelong friends there. And I lost friends there. The United Kingdom alone had 457 service personnel killed,” the Duke of Sussex said. “Thousands of lives were changed forever. Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children were left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost.”
Prince Harry went on by noting that the sacrifices deserved “to be spoken about truthfully and with respect.”
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