As the first American troops have died in the growing U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, the #SendBarron hashtag was trending on social media Monday, and a former writer for “South Park” has launched a website that raises questions about whether President Donald Trump would be so eager to send his own children and grandchildren off to a conflict he has started.
Comedian Toby Morton’s DraftBarronTrump.com site is supposed to be satirical, according to the Daily Beast. But it echoes critical comments made Sunday by Democratic Senator Chris Murphy about Trump’s decision to join Israel in ordering extensive air strikes on Iran as part of “Operation Epic Fury.”
Speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the president’s effort to force regime change in Iran probably won’t get the results he wants and is likely to lead to a regional war and a “quagmire” that will cost the lives of more American soldiers.
“It won’t be the billionaire kids of Donald Trump and his buddies that die,” the Connecticut Democrat said. “It’s going to be the children of middle class and poor families all across this country who are going to die for a war of choice, a war of vanity, an illegal war.”
Morton launched his site as the deaths of four U.S service members were announced over the weekend, and Trump was blasted for seeming to be indifferent to their loss, the Daily Beast and The Independent reported.
In an address to the nation Sunday, Trump said “there will likely be more” U.S. military personnel killed in the war.
“As one nation, we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives,” Trump said in a video posted to X, the Daily Beast reported. “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is.”
The four killed were U.S. Army soldiers deployed to Kuwait as part of a unit that oversees supplies and logistics, the Associated Press reported. They were killed, and several others were seriously injured, when Iran targeted a tactical operations center in the ally Persian Gulf nation, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday.
But as Trump spoke of this “righteous mission” to launch air strikes on Iran, Morton was among those online, focusing on whether he would be so willing to have his own 19-year-old son on the front lines.
Morton, who runs dozens of political parody sites and who wrote for “South Park” in the early 2000s, addressed the question about Barron Trump’s imagined military service with a site whose header proclaims, “America is strong because its leaders are strong.”
“President Trump proves that every day,” the header continues. “Naturally, his son Barron is more than ready to defend the country his father so boldly commands.”
The site then includes spoof quotes from Trump and other of Barron Trump’s older half-brothers. “People come up to me, with tears in their eyes, and they say, ‘Sir, you’re the strongest. Send Barron off to war,’” said Trump’s faux quote.
Donald Trump Jr. also is “quoted” as saying that his college student brother “represents strength, courage, and service. I’ll be honoring that sacrifice in my own way, mainly by talking about it from a safe distance.” Meanwhile, a spoof Eric Trump quote has him discussing — not war or military service — but pancakes, which “are complex” to make.
The issue of military service has long been a sore point for Trump, with the president having used a diagnosis of bone spurs to avoid the Vietnam draft, The Independent and other sites reported.
Meanwhile, on X, someone encouraged other users to help make #SendBarron trend No. 1.
“Yup send him!!” one person replied. “My grandson is serving in the Marines, while Barron is being coddled by mommy and daddy.”
Someone else posted a photo of group of four young adults, lounging on a beach, headlined “Trump’s kids” and “Netanyahu’s kids.” That photo was contrasted with a photo of soldiers in a desert war setting, headlined “Your kids.” Another person also suggested that Kai Trump, Tump’s 18-year-old granddaughter, a golfer and social media influencer, could also join up.
But amid this discussion, some online have pointed out that Barron, who stands 6 feet 9 inches, may in fact be too tall to join the military. The Independent reported that the height limit for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard is 6 feet 8 inches, while the Marine Corps’ limit is capped at 6 feet 6 inches.
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