'Where in the hell is he from?': Biden rips Donald Trump's 'completely uninformed' outreach to veterans

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Joe Biden

AP

Joe Biden is coming under criticism from Turkish President Erdogan.

Vice President Joe Biden eviscerated Donald Trump's comments Monday about returning veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

At a campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Florida on Monday, Biden berated Trump in an impassioned speech about the mental-health problems some veterans face when they return from war. 

"Every one of those warriors left behind an entire family, a community for us - 52,419 wounded but as a veteran can tell you there are over 200,000 coming home with unseen wounds," Biden said. 

Biden, whose son Beau served in the US Army and died of cancer in 2015, said taking care of returning veterans and their families is a "sacred obligation" for America. 

During a panel with at the Retired American Warriors PAC in Herndon, Virginia, Trump made a comment suggesting soldiers who commit suicide aren't as able to cope with the mental toll of combat as others are. 

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"When you talk about the mental health problems - when people come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and you're strong and you can handle it. But a lot of people can't handle it," Trump said. 

Trump's comments were interpreted by some as insulting to veterans who endure psychological and emotional trouble post-war. 

In a New York Daily News cover story, the mother of a veteran who died after a battle with PTSD called Trump's comments "absurd and ignorant."

The Trump campaign responded to the criticism, calling news outlets "the propaganda arm of Hillary Clinton," and saying the Manhattan billionaire's words were taken "out of context in order to deceive voters and veterans - an appalling act that shows they are willing to go to any length to carry water for their candidate of choice." 

Watch Biden's remarks below: 

 

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