American veterans have blasted Donald Trump's self-congratulatory Memorial Day tweet as the "most inappropriate" one ever, taking to social media to express their disgust at his "appalling" attitude.
The outrage comes after the president wrote a post that was meant to honour Memorial Day, remembering the millions who have died while serving in the country's armed forces, yet instead just boasted about the accomplishments of his administration.
"Happy Memorial Day! Those who died for our great country would be very happy and proud at how well our country is doing today," he wrote. "Best economy in decades, lowest unemployment numbers for Blacks and Hispanics EVER (& women in 18years), rebuilding our Military and so much more. Nice!"
Afterwards, both individual veterans and veteran groups went online to furiously bash Trump's "egotistical" self-promotion.
VoteVets, a "progressive political organisation dedicated to ensuring veterans have the resources they need to complete their missions abroad" denounced his decision to wish families of the fallen a "happy" holiday.
They wrote: "This is the most inappropriate #MemorialDay comment that a @POTUS has ever made. Self-promotion on a day to remember the fallen, and wishing those remembering their deceased loved ones a “happy” holiday is appalling. #CadetBoneSpurs"
In addition, the left-leaning group slammed the Republican Party's efforts to raise money from Memorial Day, posting: "Really @GOP? You think this is what’s #MemorialDay is all about. Maybe you can #TakeAKnee and remember the fallen."
They were joined by countless other angry veterans and family members, with actor Mark Hamill, known for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films, also lashing out at Trump.
The Republican president has never had a particularly good relationship with many veterans groups. In 2017, he blocked VoteVets, backed by more than 500,000 veterans, on Twitter after they were critical of his policies.
Later that year, he was accused of insensitivity after he reportedly told the widow of US Army Sgt. La David Johnson, a Green Beret killed during a mission in Niger on October 4, "He knew what he signed up for ... but when it happens, it hurts anyway."
In addition, the billionaire businessman's five military service deferments have been scrutinised in the past. While the president has asserted it was "ultimately" the luck of a high draft lottery number that kept him out of the Vietnam war, multiple reports have suggested otherwise and have questioned the president's claims of medical deferment.
