“Was it because of his skin colour? Or his skill? We’ll never know, but always doubt – which on its face seems unfair,” Hegseth wrote in a book. “But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it doesn’t really much matter.”
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On a podcast in November, Hegseth explicitly said Brown should be fired and added: “Any general who was involved … in any of the DEI woke shit has got to go.”
Since his return to the Oval Office, Trump has made dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the federal government a top priority, and has embarked on an unprecedented purge of senior bureaucrats, institutions and programs.
In a post on X, Democratic congressman Jason Crow said the purge of senior Pentagon officials was “deeply troubling” but purging the judge advocates general worried him the most.
“JAG officers interpret law for our commanders. They help determine what’s lawful and constitutional.”
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“Replacing these military lawyers with Trump loyalists is so dangerous.”
In a post on X, one-time Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci went much further and suggested the removal of the country’s top general could be a precursor to Trump attempting to defy the constitution to remain in power after 2028.
“He just fired the Joint Chief of Staff. Wants to instal a puppet. For those who think that he is contemplating leaving, they don’t understand what happened on January 6,” Scaramucci wrote, referring to the 2021 riots in which Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to overturn the result of the 2020 election.
Adam Smith, a congressman from Washington state who is the Democrats’ leader of the House Armed Services Committee, called the moves a “Friday night massacre” that had unleashed even more chaos.
“CQ Brown is a true patriot,” he said. “He is intelligent, accomplished and well respected on both sides of the aisle and made history with his decades of exceptional service to our country. That wasn’t good enough for the president, who has chosen – yet again – fealty over proven ability to do the job and loyalty to the Constitution.
“All of this continues to play into the hands of Vladimir Putin and others working to exploit the weakness Trump continues to broadcast, and undermine the military, our government, our national security interests and democracy worldwide.”
with AP
