(CNN) — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin insisted Monday that she “never blamed” President Barack Obama for her son’s recent arrest on domestic violence charges.
Stumping for Donald Trump last month, Palin alluded to her son’s arrest earlier that week and suggested that Obama did not respect and honor military servicemembers returning from duty.
“What my own son is going through, what he is going through coming back, I can relate to other families who feel ramifications of PTSD and some of the woundedness that our soldiers do return with,” she said at a Trump rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a day after endorsing Trump. “And it makes me realize, more than ever, it is now or never for the sake of America’s finest that we have that commander in chief who will respect them and honor them.”
Palin insisted Monday in an interview on NBC’s “Today” that she did not say anything “offensive” and was not blaming Obama for her son’s arrest, nor the post-traumatic stress she has suggested led to his arrest.
“I never blamed President Obama. What I have blamed President Obama in doing though is this level of disrespect for the United States military that is made manifest in getting budgets, in not trying to beef it up and let our military do the job that they are trained to do and in specific issues that we’re talking about that are so hot today, specifically let’s get in there and let’s utterly destroy ISIS,” Palin said Monday.
“I don’t regret any comment because I didn’t lay PTSD at the foot of the President. I did say though and suggested very adamantly that there is much more than our Commander-in-Chief can do to prove that he respects our troops and will let them do their job.
Track Palin, a 26-year-old Iraq War veteran, was arrested in Wasilla, Alaska, after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend days before Palin publicly endorsed Trump.
He was charged with domestic violence assault on a female, interfering with a report of domestic violence and possession of a weapon while intoxicated, according to Dan Bennett, a spokesman for the Wasilla Police Department.
Trump said in an interview on CNN later that week that he “suggested” Palin discuss her son’s arrest and the ramifications of PTSD.
And Trump also laid blame for the treatment of veterans at the President’s doorstep.
“Everything starts at the top and he’s the president,” Trump told CNN’s Don Lemon. “All you have to do is look at the Veterans Administration and look at the bad, the horrible care our vets get.”
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