…I’m glad I don’t have to advise this President. I mean, we should all shed tears over that, that particular act. “The first thing was just absolute sadness that people aren’t allowed to protest and that, as I understand it, that was a peaceful protest that was disturbed by force, and that’s not right. There was little good in the stunt.”įormer chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George W. Whatever Trump’s goal in conducting his visit, he laid bare his disdain for the rights of peaceful protest in this country, gave succor to the leaders of other countries who take comfort in our domestic strife, and risked further politicizing the men and women of our armed forces. I have to date been reticent to speak out on issues surrounding President Trump’s leadership, but we are at an inflection point, and the events of the past few weeks have made it impossible to remain silent. “It sickened me yesterday to see security personnel-including members of the National Guard-forcibly and violently clear a path through Lafayette Square to accommodate the president’s visit outside St. The president’s speech was calculated to project his abject and arbitrary power, but he failed to project any of the higher emotions or leadership desperately needed in every quarter of this nation during this dire moment.”įormer chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George W. “Donald Trump isn’t religious, has no need of religion, and doesn’t care about the devout, except insofar as they serve his political needs…To even the casual observer, Monday was awful for the United States and its democracy. I think we should look at people that are running for office and put them through the filter: What is their character like? What are their ethics?”įormer commander of US forces in Afghanistan under ObamaĬommentary published June 3 by Foreign Policy “I think we need to look harder at who we elect. “I would argue that the end result of that was predictable.” “I would’ve argued against it, recommended against it,” Kelly said of Trump’s photo-op. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society.”įormer Chief of Staff to Trump, Former commander of US Southern Command under Obama We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people – does not even pretend to try. Many of these military leaders have been critical of the President in the past. And some condemned the appearance of Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accompanying Trump for the photo-op. John’s Episcopal Church across the street and pose with a Bible. The military leaders criticized the use of law enforcement and National Guard troops to aggressively disperse peaceful protesters outside the White House, so that Trump could walk over to the St. Military leaders are usually cautious about airing their political opinions, but over the week, several former top military officials, including former Defense Secretary James Mattis, have raised the alarm and spoken out, in strong terms, against President Donald Trump.Ī number of retired four-star generals and admirals denounced Trump’s threat to use the US active military to quell nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police.
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