The portion of Donald Trump’s interview on Fox and Friends (below) is so startling for a number of reasons—he blames U.S. generals for the botched Yemen raid, disses the father of the slain Navy SEAL, who’s demanded an investigation into his son’s death, pivots to a nonsensical rambling about his huge Twitter following, hints that John McCain is unpatriotic and out of line, then says the people protesting and speaking out against him on Twitter are the enemy. That’s right, YOU are the enemy.
When the Fox hosts try to gently shift back to the fallen Navy SEAL, Trump brags that his generals are the most well-respected in decades and this raid was in the works before he got there and it is everyone’s fault but the Commander-in-Chief. The Washington Post notes the Trump regime backed itself in a corner:
Trump himself has toned the the rhetoric somewhat, maintaining in a "Fox and Friends" interview airing Tuesday morning that the mission was successful but also separating himself from it.
"Well, this was a mission that was started before I got here," Trump said. "This was something that was, you know, just -- they wanted to do. And they came to see me and they explained what they wanted to do, the generals, who are very respected. ... And according to General Mattis, it was a very successful mission. They got tremendous amounts of information."
But there are also major questions about whether the information was indeed all that substantial. NBC News reported Monday night, in fact, that U.S. officials say it "has so far yielded no significant intelligence."
That doesn’t stop Trump from claiming the raid was yugely successful, the most successful and that his generals are the most respected in decades. Never mind they were all in place before he took office. Enemies of the state, watch the interview and transcript below:
KILMEADE: Have you attacked recently McCain, the FBI, Democrats. Is there a method to the attacks or is it just venting?
TRUMP: No method really -- it's not venting, either. I felt badly when a young man dies and John McCain said that was a failed mission. According to general Mattis it was a very successful mission. They got a lot of information, a lot of different things that they really wanted to get. And I thought it was he inappropriate. I thought it was inappropriate that he goes to foil soil and criticizes our government. I just think that's inappropriate. People have to be careful with that people really have to be careful with that. But it does allow me to go around dishonest media. I don't have to go around you folks. I don't have to go around a lot of the media. I do have to go around some media.
It does allow me to do that because the following is so large. Between Twitter and Facebook and all of the different things I have so many millions of people it allows me to give a message without going to people where I'm giving them a message and putting it down differently from what I mean.
AINSLEY: A lot of people like it. They say you are tough. They like when you go after people for attacking you. You have people attacking you on both sides of the aisle you are going after enemies on Twitter they want you to stop it will you?
TRUMP: Most of the people that want me to stop it are the enemies, to be honest with you. The enemies would like me to stop it. If I felt the media were honest, all of it, or most of it, I wouldn't do it. But it is a modern day form of communication, especially when have you, you know, tens of millions of people like I have.
DOOCY: Mr. President, you mentioned -- John McCain mention that young man who died, the Navy seal who died in that mission.
TRUMP: Yes.
DOOCY: His father said he didn't want to talk to you. Your reaction to that?
TRUMP: This was a mission that started before I got here. This was something that was, you know, they wanted to do. And they came to see me. They explained what they wanted to do the generals. Who were very respected. My generals are the most respected leadership that we have had in many decades, I believe. And they lost Ryan. And I was at the airport when the casket came in, the body came. In and it was a very sad with the family and it's a great family. Incredible wife and children. I met most of the family. And I can understand people saying that. I would feel -- I would feel what's worse? There is nothing worse. There is nothing worse. Again, this was something that they were looking at for a long time doing. And according to General Mattis it was a very successful mission. They got a tremendous amount of information.
Except, they didn’t. They didn’t get tremendous amounts of information. And they aren’t your generals, Donald Trump. They were there long before you arrived and they’ll be there long after you go.