Former commander-in-chief George W. Bush charged $100,000 in 2012 to speak at a charity fundraiser for vets wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, ABC News reported Wednesday.
The former President’s wife, Laura, took $50,000 a year earlier to speak to the same group, Texas-based Helping A Hero, the network reported.
Former Marine Eddie Wright, who served on the charity’s board and lost both hands in a 2004 rocket attack in Iraq, told ABC he didn’t think it was right for Bush to have been paid to raise money for vets through the group, which provides adapted homes to service members who became disabled in combat.
“You sent me to war,” Wright said of Bush, according to ABC.
“I was doing what you told me to do, gladly for you and our country and I have no regrets. But it’s kind of a slap in the face.”
Bush reportedly also got a private jet trip to Houston for the speaking gig at a cost of $20,000.
In a post on Facebook Wednesday afternoon, Wright expanded on his television comments.
“I like President Bush. He's a man just like anyone else. The decision to take money from a nonprofit (any nonprofit) that raises money to assist Veterans who are wounded in a war that he was Commander in Chief of was a bad judgment call,” the Texas veteran wrote.
“I know a little bit about leadership. That's not the type of leader I aspired to be in the Corps and still do. I would never take money from my Marines.”
According to an entry on the web site for Helping a Hero — which did not immediately respond to a request for comment — Wright was serving as an assistant team leader with Bravo Company 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in the Al Anbar province of Iraq when he was grievously injured in a rocket-propelled grenade attack.
Wright “sustained severe life-threatening wounds, including the immediate loss of both hands and forearms and an open fracture on his left femur.”
He spent a year recovering at Walter Reed.
In his Facebook post, Wright said he hoped the story would bring to light larger issues about “nonprofit organizations that exploit and monetize disabled Veterans under the guise of caring.”
As for Bush, “What's said is said. I am honored to have served with him as my Commander in Chief,” Wright posted.
Helping A Hero responded to the story via Twitter, saying, “We are proud that President Bush attended the 2012 gala. His presence helped us raise unprecedented funds to build adapted homes.”
ABC said a Bush spokesman declined to address criticism of the speaking fee, saying in a statement, “President Bush has made helping veterans one of his highest priorities in his post presidency.”
Presidential speaking fees have been a hot topic thanks to the Clintons, who have had to disclose information about their income and are under pressure to reveal more as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the 2016 Democratic nomination heats up.
No comments:
Post a Comment