Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey attributed many adjectives to describe President Donald Trump’s speech — none of which are flattering.
McCaffrey was speaking about the president’s address to military leaders Tuesday morning in Quantico, Virginia, per The Hill.
“I’ve been doing this a long time. That presentation at Quantico from the president and secretary of Defense was one of the most bizarre, unsettling events I’ve ever encountered,” McCaffrey said MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Wednesday.
“The president sounded incoherent, exhausted, rabidly partisan, at times stupid, meandering, couldn’t hold a thought together,” he continued.
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Trump announced Tuesday that “dangerous” cities could be used as “training grounds” for the military, stating the United States was undergoing a “war from within.”
“We’re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms,” Trump said, according to The Associated Press.
Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the want to end “woke” policies and, in effect, end the era of political correctness for the military.
“The era of politically correct, overly sensitive don’t-hurt-anyone’s-feelings leadership ends right now at every level,” Hegseth said, per the AP.
Trump added the American military “is not to protect anyone’s feelings.”
“It’s to protect our republic,” Trump said. ″We will not be politically correct when it comes to defending American freedom.”
Many Democratic lawmakers were not on board with the duo’s message.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the meeting was “an expensive, dangerous dereliction of leadership by the Trump administration.”
“Even more troubling was Mr. Hegseth’s ultimatum to America’s senior officers: conform to his political worldview or step aside,” Reed said. “That demand is profoundly dangerous. It signals that partisan loyalty matters more than capability, judgment, or service to the Constitution, undermining the principle of a professional, nonpartisan military.
He said the words spoken by Hegseth “insulted” the military.
“His words were divisive and corrosive to the force itself. America’s military strength depends on men and women of every race, gender, and creed. By dismissing and marginalizing servicemembers who do not fit his narrow vision, Hegseth insulted those who serve honorably and eroded the cohesion that makes our military strong,” he said.
Reed called Trump’s remarks “reckless.”
“President Trump’s remarks offered no strategy, no operational guidance, and no plan to address real threats. His reckless suggestion that American cities be used as “training grounds” for U.S. troops is a dangerous assault on our democracy, treating our own communities as war zones and our citizens as enemies,” Reed said.
“At a time when global security demands focus, this gathering distracted from our troops’ missions and wasted their time. Leadership requires seriousness and respect for those who serve. What happened at Quantico was the opposite,” he added.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), on the other hand, praised Trump’s message.
“It’s a win-win scenario because National Guardsmen are proud of that duty that they performed, and they brought crime down dramatically in D.C. And all of us are safe. Our staffs are safe. They’re not walking in fear right now. I think we should do that in every major city run by Democrats who aren’t serious,” Johnson said on CNN’s “Inside Politics.”
