A US Army veteran has hit out at social media users for using photographs of him in attacks against president Donald Trump’s alleged comments on veterans.
The controversy comes following a report byThe Atlantic that the president had made derogatory remarks about lost service members and prisoners of war. Mr Trump has fiercely denied the article’s claims.
Posts began circulating on social media using the image of Bobby Henline, lone survivor out of five soldiers in an IED blast in Iraq, hitting out at the president’s alleged comments, 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,” Mr Henline, a four-tour Iraq War veteran told the broadcaster.
I’m just so irritated that they put my image up there because now it looks like the president called me a loser.»
Mr Henline is seeking to have the posts taken down as he believes people are wrongly using his image to further a political agenda that the accusations against the president are false.
“I really believe the president didn’t say this,» he said. «There’s been anonymous sources and other sources in the room that aren’t necessarily friends with the president or believe in his ways, but they’re still not gonna slam him and make up this rumor and keep it spreading. And so with that said, I don’t think he really said this.»
One of the images circulating appears to show Mr Henline with a banner reading, “Trump says he’s a ‘loser.’ I say he’s a hero! What do you say?»
Mr Henline, a motivational speaker and a comedian, said he was quickly made aware of the posts circulating on social media and quickly took to Instragram to condemn the use of his person image insisting users “stop using me for your propaganda.»
While Mr Henline said that he was successful in getting some of the posts taken down, he said that more have been published in their place.
The Atlantic’s article, which has drawn outrage from Mr Trump and his supporters, draws on multiple anonymous sources detailing a number of unflattering alleged incidents surrounding the president involving war dead.
A number of the president’s supporters, who have put themselves in the room where some of the reported comments were allegedly said, have publicly denied the accusations.
Former national security adviser John Bolton and Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders have both gone on the record saying the comments are false.
