The tumult caused by Donald Trump’s disparagement of a heroic Navy SEAL continues at full boil.
Why is that? Because the president of the United States won’t back down from the hideous criticism he leveled at retired Admiral William McRaven, the fellow who coordinated the May 2011 commando raid that took down Osama bin Laden.
McRaven, who’s now a private citizen, had criticized the president’s war on the media as a grave “threat to democracy.” Trump then responded in an interview with “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace that McRaven should have gotten bin Laden “much sooner.”
Yep, he criticized the architect of the operation. He in effect denigrated the service of a heroic American warrior, who spent 37 years wearing the uniform in service to his country. He was injured training to become a SEAL. He also led the team that captured the late Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein in 2003.
So, for this president — who actually avoided service during the Vietnam War — to criticize a hero simply is beyond my own ability to comprehend. He called McRaven a political hack, a Hillary Clinton “backer” and a fan of President Obama.
Admiral McRaven is as admirable a man as one could find.
Donald Trump? He, um, isn’t.
Still, this tempest just won’t quit.
Trump that be labeled as “The Mouth That Roared” He was refreshing during the election with his off the wall comments, much like “Teddy Roosevelt” , or so I’ve read. But after the Election, Roosevelt became “Presidential” Trump is still a loose canon, firing at any thing but the real target. The Admiral has a constitutional right to criticize. But, the President seems to take any comments against him personally and counter attacks. The President needs to adopt a Teflon policy to this and focus on running the government.