On Thursday, The Atlantic published an article that used anonymous sources to claim that President Trump repeatedly disparaged American troops, both living and dead.  By Friday morning, Democrats were weaponizing the article to cover for Biden's serious problems with the military: his support for the Iraq War, and the way the Obama administration weakened the military.  Trump, however, revitalized the military and fought for the troops.

The article's primary allegations are that Trump refused to visit a WWI cemetery because of his hair, said the Marines who died taking Belleau Wood were "suckers" and "losers," and drew back in revulsion from troops who lost limbs.  Every assertion is false.  People with firsthand information who were willing to go on the record exposed how terribly The Atlantic lied about Trump.

John Bolton, a Trump foe, was clear.  "I was there," he said, about the decision to cancel the Belleau Wood trip, and "I didn't hear that."  Contemporaneous documents support Bolton, but The Atlantic ignored them:

Spare me the bogus outrage.

Where is your apology for running a story so fake that Mueller had to come out and correct the story? pic.twitter.com/cHDd7qZM4z

— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) September 4, 2020

Regarding the lede of this story: I obtained documents from the Navy via #FOIA about Trump's 2018 trip to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris and the documents say his transport was canceled by the Navy due to rain. https://t.co/oNWsvAPy1z pic.twitter.com/keFtW7QC8b

— Jason Leopold (@JasonLeopold) September 4, 2020

Additionally, Trump does not withdraw in revulsion from wounded troops:

The only accurate thing in the article is that Trump insulted John McCain — but he did so only after McCain called Trump supporters "crazies."  Trump, new to campaigning, foolishly borrowed from a Chris Rock comic sketch about McCain.  Rock said McCain would have been a better guy had he escaped. Trump shouldn't have gone there.  Still, many people feel that McCain had it coming, especially when he got his petty revenge by blocking Obamacare's reversal.

Friday's events show that, for The Atlantic, the truth was irrelevant.  Democrats needed the story to help Biden get past some problem issues he has with the military — mainly, that the Obama administration gutted the military, started unnecessary wars, and failed to protect the troops.  Trump, on the other hand, has restored the military's might, started no new wars, brought many troops home, and killed Qassem Soleimani, a terrorist who murdered American troops.

The day started with a left-wing group called Vote Vets instantly having ready a video for Morning Joe — almost as if they'd gotten an advanced warning.  Then, when Biden appeared for a rare press conference, his opening remarks mostly attacked Trump about the alleged insults to the troops:

Quite frankly, if what is written in the Atlantic is true, it's disgusting. At affirms what most of us believe to be true, that Donald Trump is not fit to do the job of President, to be the Commander in Chief.

Biden went on in this vein for some time.  The hoax story allowed him to drag his son, Beau, out of the grave to show Biden's love for the troops.

More importantly, by making Trump appear anti-military, Biden could gloss over the fact that he enthusiastically supported the Iraq War, something that Trump opposed, and then squandered the victory — two things most Americans now see as terrible mistakes, in terms of both blood and gold.

Biden's pro-military rap also covered for the Obama administration's turning the military into a social justice experiment, defunding it, overusing it, and not protecting it.  The "tell" that this hoax has a specific goal is this headline and lede from the New York Times home page on Friday night:

Biden's keepers milked the story even more by giving the first question to Isaac Dovere of The Atlantic.  Dovere attacked Trump and then followed up with a bizarre question — "What does it tell you about President Trump's soul and the life he leads?" — allowing Biden to hurl more insults at Trump as an indecent human being.

Reporter: "When you hear these remarks -- 'suckers, losers, recoiling from amputees' -- what does it tell you about President Trump's soul and the life he leads?"

Joe Biden: "...You know in your heart, you know in your gut, it's deplorable. It's deplorable." pic.twitter.com/Q2BBsY4N4e

— The Hill (@thehill) September 5, 2020

If I had to bet, I'd say The Atlantic always knew the report was a lie.  I'd go even farther and say someone in Biden's campaign asked The Atlantic to publish the story.

The fact is that the truth was never important.  All that was important was to get the story out there to help Biden hide the military-related uglies in his past.

Image: Biden press conference using a screen grab from a publicly shareable video.