Almost 90 retired USA military generals and admirals have thrown their support behind Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, campaign officials announced Tuesday.
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Last month, 50 prominent Republican national security experts urged voters to stay away from the GOP nominee this fall, writing in an open letter that Trump “would be the most reckless president in American history”. Gov. Mitt Romney saw 500 former military leaders endorse him in 2012.
“The fact that there aren’t any major names on the list – that it’s short – that’s what’s surprising”.
“There’s nearly no name on that list that I recognized”, retired four-star Gen. Barry McCaffrey said, who added he was surprised in recognizing just a handful of names despite growing up with a father who was a three-star general, and despite spending decades in the service himself.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who advises Trump on national security, told the Times the list “more than trumps” those backing Clinton.
Donald Trump will propose ending mandatory defense spending cuts during a speech in Philadelphia on Wednesday, and look to portray Hillary Clinton’s world view as one of wild-eyed globalism, according to a senior Trump campaign official who briefed reporters on Tuesday night.
“There’s no question in my mind that there is enormous anger against Secretary Clinton over the emails”, McCaffrey said, adding that social issues like women in the infantry may also frustrate older veterans.
While numerous signatories had more low-profile military resumes, a handful have earned headlines for controversy.
Perhaps the most high-profile contributor is Lt. Gen. William G. He later served as the Pentagon’s deputy undersecretary for intelligence under President George W. Bush. Organizing the letter, according to the Trump campaign, were Rear Admiral Charles Williams, a Vietnam veteran awarded the Legion of Merit, and Major General Sydney Shachnow, a former Green Beret who was the first Holocaust survivor to become a US general.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (L) speaks during a campaign event September 6, 2016 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
“A lot of people in uniform remember that”, Jacobs said. And on Tuesday morning, Clinton released a new ad that is silent except for images of military veterans and families listening with concern to Trump’s comments denigrating John McCain’s capture in Vietnam and comparing his own “sacrifice” in business to that of USA servicemen.
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Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) received the endorsements of 300 retired generals and admirals during his campaign in 2008.
