Conservative figure and Trump supporter Laura Loomer ignited controversy by criticizing the US Army for applauding a war hero, highlighting the hero’s foreign birthplace and involvement at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
Loomer authored an extensive message on X, censuring Army Secretary Dan Driscoll for celebrating Florent Groberg, who heroically confronted a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, safeguarding his comrades.
On Friday, a tribute was posted by the US Army on the 13th anniversary of Groberg’s courageous act, which left him severely injured and earned him the Medal of Honor.
“Surely, there must be numerous Medal of Honor recipients worthy of recognition by the Army,” Loomer commented. “So, who did the Army decide to feature on their social media during the Trump administration?”
They chose Groberg, she said, whom she characterized as ‘an immigrant who voted for Hillary Clinton and spoke at the DNC as Obama’s guest’.
“Are we to accept that the Army couldn’t locate a Republican, US-born soldier?” she questioned further. “Under Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, there have been multiple occasions of either him or the Army highlighting anti-Trump Leftists on their official platforms.”
An Army official spoke anonymously to The Washington Post and called Loomer’s attack ‘despicable’.
Loomer used social media on Friday to voice her disapproval of Florent Groberg, a US Army veteran who thwarted a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, saving numerous soldiers’ lives on August 8, 2012.
President Barack Obama awards Groberg with the Medal of Honor, the highest military honor, on November 12, 2015
The official also called French-born Groberg a ‘national hero’ who is among many soldiers the Army plans to spotlight this year as the institution turns 250 years old.
‘The Army is not going to check the political affiliation of our soldiers before we recognize them,’ the official said. ‘A man or woman serving is not a Democrat or Republican, they are an American. Their political affiliation has nothing to do with their service.’
Groberg was awarded the military’s highest honor following his heroics on August 8, 2012, where a suicide bomber killed four men: Army Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, 45; Army Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, 35; Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray, 38; and Foreign Service officer Ragaei Abdelfattah, 43.
Had Groberg not sprinted toward the suicide bomber and pushed him further back, ‘many more would have died,’ according to the Army.
‘Groberg sustained multiple injuries in the attack, including the loss of 50 percent of his lower calf, going deaf in his left ear, and a significant traumatic brain injury,’ the Army said.
After Loomer launched her social media rant on Saturday, Groberg publicly responded to the right-wing activist by bringing the focus back to the men he lost in the war.
‘Thirteen years ago today is my Alive Day, the day I nearly lost my life, and four of my brothers, including three Army leaders, never came home,’ he wrote.
‘I’ve served under presidents from both parties and will always honor my oath to this country. Yes, I spoke for 60 seconds at the DNC when asked about service and sacrifice, not politics. For me, 8/8 isn’t about parties. It’s about the lives we lost.’
Pictured: Groberg speaks at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. He has insisted that he’s a Republican, but that he didn’t come to speak at the DNC for political reasons
In a statement to The Washington Post, Loomer stood by her posts criticizing US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Groberg
During his brief speech at the DNC, Groberg said he wasn’t speaking as Republican or Democrat but as a ‘proud immigrant to this country, a proud veteran of the United States Army, and a proud recipient of our nation’s highest military honor.’
And in an interview with The Washington Post in 2016, he actually clarified that he is a Republican.
‘I saw an opportunity for me to go in, not as a Republican, not as a Democrat, not as a political figure, but as a veteran. As an immigrant. As an American,’ he said at the time.
‘I made a choice,’ he said. ‘I stood up. I knew I would take the heat. But guess what? I still go to sleep at night like a baby. I’m okay with it.’
Loomer told The Post that she stands by her posts criticizing Driscoll and Groberg, while also saying that no one from the White House told her to take them down.
‘It is very important that the secretary of the Army does not push out Democratic propaganda,’ she said. ‘I just laid out the facts.’
Loomer also said that this is the third time the Army, under Trump’s second term, has highlighted people who oppose the administration.
She cited Driscoll’s show of gratitude for Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Virginia) for attending the Army parade in Washington, D.C. as one example. Vindman testified against Trump in his first impeachment trial.
Former Trump officials have defended Groberg and Driscoll (pictured) while also pointing out that the military is a nonpartisan institution
The other instance Loomer mentioned was when the Army appointed retired officer and Biden official Jennifer Easterly as a faculty member at West Point Military Academy.
In that case, Driscoll withdrew Easterly’s appointment last month following severe backlash from Loomer and others.
Former Trump officials have defended Groberg and have tried to point out that the military is a nonpartisan institution.
‘One of the first things my drill sergeant told us at Army Basic Training in 1983 was, “You all bleed Army green now — no one cares about the color of your skin, where you came from, or what religion you are,”‘ Chris Miller, who served as acting defense secretary during the first Trump administration, wrote to The Post in a text message.
‘He didn’t have to add, “or your political affiliation” because it was taken for granted that our oath was to the Constitution and not any political party or person,’ Miller said.
Miller called Loomer an ‘agent provocateur’ whose decision to cast aspersions on Driscoll was ‘an abomination and disreputable.’
Robert Wilkie, the Veterans Affairs secretary during Trump’s first term, said the Medal of Honor ‘knows no political affiliation’.
‘I am a Trump supporter and I am the son of a distinguished combat officer,’ Wilkie said. ‘My service was modest. I was raised to believe that that medal is sacred. No matter what the holder believes or where he came from, he is worthy of the respect and thanks of all Americans.’
