After Video Refutes Kelly’s Charges, Congresswoman Raises Issue of Race<br />In an interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo, Mr. Trump said he found Ms. Wilson’s criticism of Mr. Kelly “sickening.” The president called his chief of staff “a very elegant man,”<br />and added that Mr. Kelly “is a tough, strong four-star Marine.”<br />Mr. Kelly, Mr. Trump said, was offended that Ms. Wilson publicized what the president<br />said was a “very nice” call to the widow of a soldier killed in action in Niger.<br />The issue exploded this week when Ms. Wilson went public to say<br />that in a condolence call to Ms. Johnson, Mr. Trump had said that Sergeant Johnson “knew what he signed up for.”<br />Mr. Trump flatly declared that Ms. Wilson’s account was fabricated,<br />but on Thursday, when Mr. Kelly defended the president, he did not reject her account.<br />WASHINGTON — Video of a 2015 speech delivered by Representative Frederica S. Wilson revealed Friday<br />that John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, misrepresented her remarks when he accused her of bragging about securing $20 million for a South Florida F. B.I.<br />“There’s all this noise around the one black guy who died in Niger — no one is even talking about the other guys —<br />and now they’re going after this black congresswoman,” said Mr. Jordan, whose father died in the 1960s while serving as a sergeant in the Air Force.<br />“As General Kelly pointed out, if you’re able to make a sacred act like honoring American heroes about yourself, you’re an empty barrel.”<br />Ms. Sanders escalated the messaging a few hours later: “As we say in the South: all hat, no cattle,” she said.
