Trump spokeswoman claims head of US military ‘on the side’ of violent rioters in cities like Portland
Former president continues campaign against ‘woke generals’
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump’s new spokeswoman claims the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was "on the side" of rioters as the former president escalated his campaign against so-called "woke" generals indoctrinating the military through critical race theory.
Liz Harrington said on Twitter that General Mark Milley last year supported "rioters burning down our cities" like Portland, Minneapolis, New York, Washington DC, and Seattle.
Her comments came in response to claims in a new book, Frankly, We Did Win This Election, that Mr Milley "blew up" at Mr Trump over how to handle the violence across the country following the murder of George Floyd
The book’s author, The Wall Street Journal’s Michael Bender, wrote that Mr Trump considered invoking the Insurrection Act and wanted Mr Milley in charge of a military response to the violence.
He wrote that Mr Trump announced Mr Milley was "in charge" during a meeting in the Situation Room with Attorney General Bill Barr and Defence Secretary Mark Esper.
"Privately, Milley confronted Trump about his role. He was an adviser, and not in command. But Trump had had enough," the book said. "’I said you’re in f---ing charge!’ Trump shouted at him. ‘Well, I’m not in charge!’ Milley yelled back. ‘You can’t f---ing talk to me like that’! Trump said."
Mr Trump told Axios, through a spokesperson, the story "is totally fake news, it never ever happened”.
"I’m not a fan of General Milley, but I never had an argument with him and the whole thing is false. He never talked back to me. Michael Bender never asked me about it and it’s totally fake news," he said.
"If General Milley had yelled at me, I would have fired him."
Mr Trump has been railing against Mr Milley since the head of the country’s military defended the study of critical race theory for recruits at West Point.
The former commander-in-chief told Newsmax on Friday that he was "pathetic".
“They didn’t talk that way when I was around, I can tell you. They didn’t talk that way or I would have gotten rid of them in two minutes," he told the outlet.
While not mentioning Mr Milley at his rally in Ohio on the weekend, Mr Trump continued his criticisms of "woke generals" as being more focused on the "nonsense" than fighting the US’s enemies.
"That’s our military. That’s where we’re going. Woke. I know some of these guys, boy, they change quickly. They went right over to the other side. I heard that about a couple of them," he said.
"The military brass have become weak and ineffective leaders and our enemies are watching and they’re laughing."
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