On Memorial Day, the Democratic Party faced backlash for a controversial post that many perceived as exploiting the tragic losses of American service members during the Iran war to criticize President Trump. The original message on the Democratic National Committee’s official X account drew ire for its political undertone.
The post stated, “Today, we honor the American heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in Trump’s war with Iran,” and featured an image of the 13 US service members who lost their lives in Operation Epic Fury. This sparked a wave of negative reactions, amassing thousands of critical comments and over 1.1 million views.
In response to the uproar, the Democratic Party attempted to mitigate the situation by deleting the contentious post. They swiftly replaced it with a more inclusive message that avoided leveraging the tragedy for political purposes. The revised post read, “This Memorial Day, we remember and honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country and defend our freedoms.”
Accompanying the new message was a stock image of a waving American flag set against a sunny sky, adorned with a small icon of the Democratic Party donkey. Despite the quick change, the initial post continued to haunt the Democrats, as many commenters shared screenshots of the deleted content, reminding them that the internet has a long memory.
The image was also swapped out with a stock image of a waving American flag against a sunny sky with a small icon of the Democratic Party donkey.
But the Democrats seem to have forgotten that the internet doesn’t forget, and the mulligan tribute post was quickly beset by scores of comments featuring a screenshot of the deleted original.
“Democrats are disgusting and anti-American! The Democrat Party has lost its way and is more concerned about preserving their own careers and their political & financial gains. They don’t care about Americans,” one commenter wrote.
Another commenter seethed, “Never forget Democrats used fallen soldiers to score political points and for clicks. The most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed!”
Many called them out for deleting the initial post.
“Why did you delete this post, cowards?” asked one user.
Republican National Committee chair Joe Gruters savaged Democrats’ tone-deaf posting.
“Using Memorial Day to politically exploit fallen service members is appalling and disgraceful. One of the most disgusting posts I have ever seen,” he wrote on X.
Even some Democrats stepped up to slam the party’s partisan Memorial Day missive.
“It is incredibly distasteful to use our heroic dead for a political attack on Memorial Day. I’m a Democrat and I condemn this post by the DNC,” wrote Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who lost both of her legs in combat, in response to the deleted post.
