Trump continues to refer to the meddling allegations as a “hoax,” despite multiple investigations, the conclusion of the US intelligence community that Moscow did interfere, and the revelation that members of the president’s inner circle met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer during the campaign.
Blumenthal said in 2008 he “served in Vietnam” and implied on other occasions that he had been to war. While he did serve in the Marine Corps Reserves during the period, Blumenthal received multiple education and occupational deferments — which allowed him to avoid being drafted — and he was never deployed. He later apologized for exaggerating his military record.
Trump’s age would have made him eligible for the draft during the Vietnam War. But like Blumenthal, he received deferments in order to pursue his education. In total, he received four deferments for college.
Then in 1969, Trump graduated from college and snagged a fifth deferment for having bone spurs on his heels. The New York Times noted that up until that point, Trump’s medical record had been “unblemished” and he seemed to be the “picture of health.”
When asked about the medical deferment, Trump told the Times that he “had a doctor that gave [him] a letter — a very strong letter on the heels.”
Vietnam draftees were selected using a lottery system, and in the past Trump has claimed that he avoided the war because the number he received for that lottery was “phenomenal” and particularly high. However, the Times reported that he got his medical deferment more than a year before receiving his draft number.
The Vietnam War was controversial, of course, and while some people avoided service via illegal means, such as burning their draft cards, deferments for school and medical conditions were popular legal methods to dodge deployment.
Blumenthal did not, however, say if he would ultimately take a vacation in Vietnam.
