Trump "doesn't know what to say"?

[SHRED]

And many in the media are repeating this. That they also wouldn't know what to say to a grieving family.

Really?
Have we really lost sight of compassion this much that it is that difficult to be empathetic?

Maddening.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. IT is a lie, he never asked what to say, has to care to do that

[Girard442]

2. They voted for a lout. They got a lout.

[Sneederbunk]

3. There is always the risk Trump will be himself.

[gratuitous]

4. We are talking about the president, not some 8-year-old, right?

This really isn't normal, you know.

[lapfog_1]

5. really... is it that hard?

Having had the two officers show up at my house (my parents house)... I can speak with some authority

I can't tell you what the notification officers told my parents... there was a dull ringing in my ears the whole time. I doubt my parents would have remembered anything past "We are sorry to tell you that your son is dead"...

Here is what I would say off the top of my head.

We are so sorry for your loss. Your (son/daughter/husband/wife/brother/sister/father/mother) died while serving our nation. That service will be honored by all of us but none of us can truly understand your pain at this time. I speak for the nation when telling you your (pick relation again) will be remembered by (pick gender) unit and by our nation. We are so grateful for their sacrifice in the cause of ( pick one of "fighting terrorism" / "defending freedom" ) . Your loss will not be in vain.

[SHRED]

8. I called my friend the day after he lost his 18 year old son

A sudden medical issue.

I knew what I had to say and it didn't involve me or my ergo.

It was a rough phone call to make.

[Marie Marie]

6. Hey Donald, figure it out as this is part of your JOB..

Just another way he is totally unqualified to be the President and the Commander-in-Chief.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

7. No shock there! tRump and compassion should never be used in the same sentence.

[C_U_L8R]

9. It's his job

And clearly, he sucks at it

[procon]

10. He's 71 years old. Are we supposed to believe that he's lived that long and never

had to express some basic human sympathy when someone died? Never sent a cheap sympathy card, not even flowers? No one in his family died, no effusive eulogies for the dearly departed that most people of wealth are called upon to deliver? No comforting phone calls when friends, associates,or business partners passed on? Of all the assorted tarts, starlets, models and bimbos that wanted to be seen with him, or the ones he grabbed, manhandled and abused anyway, did none of them flee his larded charms and depart this mortal coil?

[Ilsa]

12. 2009:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-recalled-hitting-on-kelly-preston-in-a-note-about-her-sons-death_us_580faf4fe4b08582f88c6230

[div class="excerpt"A 2009 condolence note Donald Trump dedicated to Kelly Preston following the death of her and John Travola’s son Jett is making its way around the internet.

In the post, which was published on the now-defunct Trump University Blog, according to Mother Jones, the Republican presidential candidate recalled trying to make advances on Preston after meeting her at a club. Again, this was a condolence note to a mother who just lost her teenage son.

“I met Kelly Preston at a club and worked like hell to try and pick her up,” he allegedly wrote. “She was beautiful, personable, and definitely had allure. At the time I had no idea she was married to John Travolta.”

The post continued, “In any event, my track record on this subject has always been outstanding, but Kelly wouldn’t give me the time of day. She was very nice, very elegant, but I didn’t have a chance with her, and that was that.” ] snip

[smirkymonkey]

14. Even at his own father's funeral, his eulogy was all about HIM. The only thing he said

about his father was how proud his father was of HIM!

[Freethinker65]

11. The question is- would they know what NOT to say?

Trump has speech writers that could draft an outline complete with some background information per call to “personalize” it. Hell, Melania had her nominating convention speech partially cribbed from Michelle Obama’s....and if it would have been changed/reworked a bit more and added some personal info about Trump, few would have ridiculed it.
Sympathy cards/calls are not a fun part of the job, but they are certainly not hard to do if one has any human compassion. Problem for Trump is that he has no compassion nor sympathy for anyone.

[Ilsa]

13. He talked about trying to pick up Kelly Preston

as part of a condolence statement after her son Jett died in 2009.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-recalled-hitting-on-kelly-preston-in-a-note-about-her-sons-death_us_580faf4fe4b08582f88c6230

[onethatcares]

15. he should have learned,

when all else fails, shut your mouth and touch someone.

No, we have not lost sight of compassion, the dickbrain in the presidential housing quarters has none.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. The *situation* is difficult, but the words shouldn't be,

especially for someone who has a staff who can write some words for him. The important thing is that the person's death and the survivors' grief are acknowledged in a personal way. It sounds like the thing that upset Sgt. Johnson's widow the most is that Trump didn't even say his (Johnson's) name. It shouldn't have been so hard for him to have offered his condolences to Mrs. Johnson, personally, for the death of Sgt. Johnson, specifically, on behalf of the country he's supposed to be representing. Just about any random person off the street could have come up with something appropriate to say. But Trump is so devoid of compassion and empathy that he didn't understand that failing to personalize his call by using names, and saying it was what he (Sgt. Johnson) signed up for (making it sound like a "shit happens" remark) would be hurtful.

[demosincebirth]

17. He doesn't know the meaning of decency so he can't vocalize it.