Anti-Trump radio host and Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah caught some flak on Sunday for a Memorial Day tweet that compared the bravery of those who fight back against President Donald Trump to the selfless sacrifice of military service members.
This Memorial Day weekend lets honor the women and men who bravely sacrificed their lives fighting to protect our nation’s freedoms by RESISTING Trump’s attacks on our democracy. #TheResistance is the highest form of Patriotism! pic.twitter.com/lbGI61iikH
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) May 27, 2018
When someone objected to his comparison, Obeidallah’s response to his critic’s profile photo made things worse.
Are u wearing a Nazi outfit?
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) May 27, 2018
The person in the photo was not wearing a “Nazi” outfit, but was in fact wearing an American Army uniform from the Vietnam era. The son of the man pictured, who had posted the initial criticism to Obeidallah’s tweet, explained the uniform — and the fact that his father had been a U. S. Army Captain who was killed in Vietnam.
1. It’s my father and not me.
2. He was a captain in the US Army.
3. He was killed in Vietnam.
4. You’re embarrassing yourself. pic.twitter.com/JudOYXs4z8— still A CurmudgEon (@billpresson) May 27, 2018
Obeidallah quickly backpedaled, but left room in his “apology” to take another swing at President Trump. (RELATED: Dean Obeidallah: I Hope The Toronto Attacker Isn’t Muslim, Because Trump Might Politicize It)
@billpresson let me do something Trump and Trumpers will never do and apologize. I had no idea and I sincerely couldn’t tell that was an American uniform nor that the photo was your late father. Your father was a true patriot.
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) May 27, 2018
His apology was accepted, with a caveat: “But historical knowledge is important.”
I’ll accept your apology, but you (and others with huge followings) have to do better in social commentary. I don’t care that you thought it was me. But historical knowledge is important.
— still A CurmudgEon (@billpresson) May 27, 2018