Former President Donald Trump‘s recent criticism of U.S. Army General Mark Milley has been called a “marching order” and has sparked concern of violence.
Last week, Trump posted a message on Truth Social discussing Milley and his reported plans to step down as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, saying: “This will be a time for all citizens of the USA to celebrate! This guy turned out to be a Woke train wreck who, if the Fake News reporting is correct, was actually dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States.
“This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! A war between China and the United States could have been the result of this treasonous act. To be continued!!!”
Shortly after Trump’s remarks, Brian Klaas, an associate professor of global politics at University College London, published a story in The Atlantic calling Trump’s remarks a possible “marching order.”
“The likelihood is strong that some small number of followers will take those words literally—when Trump implies that Milley deserves to be put to death, some of his disciples might take it as a marching order. The number of those who take action does not have to be large for the result to be horrific,” Klass wrote.
“Trump’s rhetoric is dangerous, not just because it is the exact sort that incites violence against public officials, but also because it shows just how numb the country has grown toward threats more typical of broken, authoritarian regimes.”
A number of social media users also responded to Trump’s remarks expressing concern.
“To view each of Trump’s calls to violence in isolation — ‘he attacked Milley,’ or ‘he attacked NBC,’ or ‘he attacked the jury, the prosecutor, the judge ‘ — is to miss his overall plan to ‘introduce() violence as a natural extension of our democratic disagreement,’” Juliette Kayyem, a national security analyst for CNN, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
To view each of Trump’s calls to violence in isolation — “he attacked Milley,” or “he attacked NBC,” or “he attacked the jury, the prosecutor, the judge ” — is to miss his overall plan to “introduce() violence as a natural extension of our democratic disagreement.” https://t.co/8FyodcTXi5
— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) September 25, 2023
Retired General Mark Hertling wrote: “The increasing attacks against Gen Milley by elected officials are vile, despicable and ought be condemned by ALL fellow officials…but they won’t be. It’s become a contagious disease, and Trump is patient zero.”
The increasing attacks against Gen Milley by elected officials are vile, despicable and ought be condemned by ALL fellow officials…but they won’t be. It’s become a contagious disease, and Trump is patient zero. https://t.co/ggt77uNxd6
— MarkHertling (@MarkHertling) September 25, 2023
In a profile of Milley published by The Atlantic last week, the Army general, who was appointed as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Trump in 2019, recalled the former president making comments about former Army Captain Luis Avila who was wounded in Afghanistan and sang “God Bless America” at an Armed Forces ceremony in 2019.
“Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, the wounded,” Milley recalled Trump saying about Avila.
Shortly after Trump’s remarks about Milley over the weekend, Republican Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona also criticized the general.
In a newsletter over the weekend, Gosar spoke about the response to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and said: “After the riot was in full swing, the Chief’s request for National Guard was finally approved. But even after approval was given, General Milley, the homosexual-promoting-BLM-activist Chairman of the military joint chiefs, delayed.
“In a better society, quislings like the strange sodomy-promoting General Milley would be hung. He had one boss: President Trump, and instead he was secretly meeting with [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and coordinating with her to hurt Trump.”
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s spokesperson via email for comment.
