US Army veteran Bobby Henline expressed opposition against his image being used in an anti-Trump campaign unfolding over allegations that POTUS ridiculed wounded US veterans.
Henline, a four-tour Iraq War veteran and now a stand-up comedian, said he does not believe the story published by The Atlantic alleging that Trump called the injured veterans "suckers" and "losers", urging Democrats and others not to make up stories to defeat Trump in the upcoming 3 November election and to stop using veterans as a "prop".
“I'm just so irritated that they put my image up there because now it looks like the president called me a loser", the veteran told Fox News in an interview. "And they're using that to sell something that they believe in for their agenda. It's not fair to put us [veterans] as props in the middle of all that".
While the story has not been confirmed and faces authenticity doubts - as well as a refutation from Trump and the White House - Henline believes the accusations of disrespect have turned some veterans against the president, especially spiced with his well-recognized image.
“Them taking that well-recognized photo and using it for their agenda and changing veterans' minds, thinking the president talks to them like that is ridiculous," Henline declared, adding that, "I believe it worked. And that's why I want to get it taken down because it shouldn't be working. People need to hear the truth. That's my image. And it should not be up there speaking for me".
The comedian also asserted that Trump did not make the comments he is accused of, insisting instead that the political opponents should be opposed with facts.
"If you don't have the power to win on your own merits, that you have to tear down your opponent, there is a problem there", he said.
Trump deals with intense criticism, particularly from Democrats, after a controversial report by The Atlantic emerged, citing unnamed sources that detailed how Trump mocked veterans. Many cast doubt on the story, however, as others who also asserted to have knowledge of the president's remarks denied that he made such comments.
Among them was former national security adviser John Bolton, who does not enjoy a warm relationship with Trump.
Trump, commenting on the allegations of his remarks on veterans, stated that "only an animal would say a thing like that".
The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, said on Sunday that there is more damning information on the story to come, noting that "we have a responsibility, and we're going to do it regardless of what [Trump] says".