One of America’s most accomplished and highly-respected former generals said yesterday that President Donald Trump is “immoral” and he wouldn’t take a job in the Trump administration.
Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal gave a rare interview to ABC News on Sunday and told anchor Martha Raddatz that he considers the current president not only immoral but also dishonest.
Two other former generals, Defense Secretary James Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, are in the process of leaving the Trump administration. Both of them have had conflicts with the president on many levels and have had strong disagreements on policy and operational procedures.
McChrystal is a retired four star general and former top commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan. He spoke to ABC News about the resignation of Mattis and the Trump administration’s Middle East policy.
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“If you were asked to join the Trump administration, what would you say?” Raddatz asked.
“I’d say no,” McChrystal said.
“Do you think he’s a liar?” Raddatz followed up.
“I don’t think he tells the truth,” McChrystal said.
“Is Trump immoral in your view?” the ABC anchor asked.
McChrystal: “I think he is.”
When asked what he would say to Trump supporters, McChrystal said he would not tell them “they are wrong.”
Then he added:
“What I would ask every American to do is stand in front of that mirror and say, ‘What are we about? Am I really willing to throw away or ignore some of the things that people do that are — are pretty unacceptable normally just because they accomplish certain other things that we might like?’
“If we want to be governed by someone we wouldn’t do a business deal with because their — their background is so shady, if we’re willing to do that, then that’s in conflict with who I think we are. And so I think it’s necessary at those times to take a stand.”
McChrystal also told Raddatz that Mattis’ resignation letter was “much broader than the Syria issue — it was about America’s role in the world.”
He said that it was his hope that the letter would cause Americans to “take pause” about a respected person like Mattis leaving the administration at this critical time.
“I think maybe it causes the American people to take pause and say, wait a minute, if we have someone who is as selfless and as committed as Jim Mattis resign his position, walking away from all the responsibility he feels for every service member in our forces and he does so in a public way like that, we ought to stop and say, ‘OK, why did he do it?,’” McChrystal said.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
