Who Is Richard Blumenthal? Here's Why President Trump Is Feuding With Senator Over Vietnam, Gorsuch

President Donald Trump took to Twitter Thursday morning to blast Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on his military record and accused him of distorting the words of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.

For those who haven’t been following along, that tweet might be confusing. Here’s what you need to know about Trump’s feud with Blumenthal:

On Saturday, Trump called James Robart, the federal judge who issued a nationwide stay on the president’s immigration ban, a “so-called judge.” He also told his Twitter followers to blame Robart if an immigrant carries out a future terror attack in the U.S.

Blumenthal and Gorsuch met Wednesday. According to Blumenthal, Gorsuch — who was chosen by Trump for the Supreme Court — called the president’s comments about a federal judge “demoralizing” and “disheartening.”

Trump said Blumenthal had misrepresented Gorsuch’s comments. But Gorsuch’s spokesman confirmed that they were accurate.

But what about that Blumenthal’s military record?

In 2010, the senator was accused of exaggerating his military service. He had said that he served “in” Vietnam, but he had actually never gone to Vietnam. He later apologized, claiming he’d meant to say that he’d served “during” Vietnam — he was in the Marine Corps reserves during that time.

"On a few occasions I have misspoken about my service, and I regret that and I take full responsibility," Blumenthal said, as quoted in a Washington Post article from 2010. "But I will not allow anyone to take a few misplaced words and impugn my record of service to our country."

In his second tweet, Trump dismissed an interview between CNN anchor Chris Cuomo and Blumenthal as “fake news” because Cuomo did not ask Blumenthal about his military service.

Trump did not serve in Vietnam either, but unlike Blumenthal, he avoided military service altogether. He received five deferments from the draft.

Like Trump, Blumenthal is 70 years old. He began serving in the Senate in 2011, and before that, he was the Connecticut Attorney General for 20 years, starting in 1991. Blumenthal received his law degree from Yale University, where he was a student alongside a future president and secretary of state — Bill and Hillary Clinton.