President Trump fired back in response to retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who criticized Trump in a television interview on Dec. 30.
“’General’ McChrystal got fired like a dog by Obama. Last assignment a total bust. Known for big, dumb mouth. Hillary lover!” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
“General” McChrystal got fired like a dog by Obama. Last assignment a total bust. Known for big, dumb mouth. Hillary lover! https://t.co/RzOkeHl3KV
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2019
Trump’s tweet accompanied a LifeZette story posted by Laura Ingraham titled “Media Didn’t Like McChrystal Until He Started Bashing Trump.”
McChrystal, a four-star general, 34-year Army veteran and former head of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, was terminated by former President Barack Obama in June 2010 for disparaging remarks made about Obama and his national security team.
In an interview with ABC News’ Martha Raddatz on Sunday, McChrystal criticized the President’s decisions, character, and morals, saying he would never work for Trump.
Raddatz asked McChrystal, “If you were asked to join the Trump administration, what would you say?”
“I think it’s important for me to work for people who I think are basically honest, who tell the truth as best they know it,” he said. “I’m very tolerant of people who make mistakes because I make so many of them — and I’ve been around leaders who’ve made mistakes … but through all of them, I almost never saw people trying to get it wrong. And I almost never saw people who were openly disingenuous on things.”
“You think he’s a liar?” Raddatz asked in surprise.
“I don’t think he tells the truth,” McChrystal answered.
“Is Trump immoral, in your view?” Raddatz asked.
“I think he is,” McChrystal responded.
Raddatz then asked McChrystal what he would say to Trump’s supporters.
“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?” McChrystal said.
“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,” he added.
McChrystal also directed his remarks at Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and Afghanistan.
“I think the great mistake in the president’s leaked guidance is that just when we were starting to sit down with the Taliban, just we were starting to begin negotiations, he basically traded away the biggest leverage point we have,” McChrystal said, according to ABC News.
