Transcription
I just feel like it's really hard to hear the president say that that he doesn't care about us being in war and that we have had troops that are already died. Like imagine if you're a family who has lost somebody to this war and you hear your commander-in-chief say, "I don't care." Or imagine that you are a military family and you're afraid that your family is going to be deployed. Or imagine you're just a person like us sitting at the table. It's like, "I want you to care, sir. I really do." Like I'm I want you to care. I am like I want you to be bought in in this moment. And to your point when you started is like when people lose interest is one thing but when people are indifferent that's a dangerous place to be and I think those other countries in the region want him not to be indifferent in this moment for sure.
Yeah. I mean, you've served in uniform. I have and I and I've talked to people that are deploying right now that are going overseas to support these missions and actually asked them asked a few of them and as a veteran myself the comment that the president made I don't believe in context was that I don't care about the operations at large. I think his comment was I don't care if Iran thinks that I'm desperate or not. I don't care about the opinion of Iran in this situation. So I don't know that the explicitly I don't care if they make a deal or not which you know this deal is supposedly going to keep us from potentially putting boots on the ground. Right. And as I said I think the president in context his comment was I don't care about Iran's opinion about us making a deal or not. Not that he doesn't care at large. As you said he's the commander-in-chief. Every time you brought up the the service members that were killed. Every time we had a dignified transfer the president has been there. He's spoken to these families. So I think it's a it's a little disingenuous to say that the president doesn't care at large about these military operations. I do think it's fair for him to he doesn't care about the opinion about how he uses his words. And I think when you say something like that, even if it is in the context of a negotiation and a deal, we're still talking about the fact that if you're saying I don't care about negotiations, prices for gas and oil are so high. I mean, I think 20 states are now facing gas prices that have risen over a dollar. um airline prices are going to go up because fuel is now double for those airlines. So the airlines are going to shift the cost to the customers. And so when you say these words like I don't care to the average person, you know, that's not sitting here talking about this but goes to the gas pump and is like but I care about these prices. I care because I can't afford to fly home to see my family for Easter cuz I'm sure we'll get into it the long lines and also the prices. um in in especially in wartime words matter and I think truth especially matters and when we are not seeing that from this administration and I think that's what's hard to digest um when you see comments like that.
Yeah. Well, General Stanley uh McChrystal who uh of course uh well-known uh part of many of the wars that the United States has been uh fighting in recent decades uh talked to the New York Times about it. It seems his his comments were about how the administration potentially a Pete Hegseth the defense secretary of the president uh the top is how he put it. Um he talked about being disappointed by how the top of our country is talking about military operations right now. Watch and we'll talk about it. I'm disappointed by the current atmosphere that is communicated from the top. I had the honor and opportunity to serve with some of the most elite forces. People who really did some extraordinary things, but they didn't beat their chest about it, right? And they weren't braggadocious and they didn't talk about, "Yeah, we love killing people." That that's just not the way they behaved. Now, the danger though of some of that verbiage now is much of the force is 18 years old, right? And and it's influenceable. And he was specifically talking about the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. But the point that he's making is the one we were just discussing words matter. Absolutely. And I think the the comments that the general is talking about is is like you said, the the the statements that were made by the the secretary. I would not have used those words uh you know that we'll negotiate with bombs. I think it's a specific quote that he's referencing. Now I will al also say at the same time that you know I won't take a lesson in civility and statesmanship from from the Iranian regime right who's killed hundreds of thousands of their own people on their streets who's who who don't have the greatest record with women or members of the LGBT community um or Americans you know that they've killed around uh the country around the world. I'm not going to take a lesson from the Iranians because their feelings are hurt because the the Secretary of Defense made that comment, but I would not have made that statement in that context. And I think just some of the language that he uses unfortunately is going to tarnish our military and has frankly politicized our military even more so. Sorry, what's wrong with warrior ethos and lethality? That is it's more how he uses it in the context of we're going to go negotiate with our bombs. I think those words matter. I think also um his focus on just the politicization that we've seen is I I personally feel is unlike any other administration that we have seen but but our focus on lethality and a warrior ethos is absolutely legitimate department that is I'm just saying like his focus on some of these words and the continued repetition of how he uses it the purpose I'm going to clarify for you really quick that the purpose of the military hasn't changed on its lethality and goals. I'm just saying like how he uses his words and like like doing push-up contest in the pack is not really getting us farther. Can we also stipulate that again I think they'd do better served by General Keane doing more than but having said that during Pete's time as Secretary of War and defense he's had incredibly successful operations in Venezuela attack on the nuclear facility in Iran and so far by all accounts whether the politics of this current incursion the military success has been remarkable. I actually don't think I think that record and operation midnight hammer was a success. I think the Maduro operation was a success and that shows the prowess of our military of our joint force and operation was something that was pulled was has been dusted off the shelves by multiple administrations including in your first administration under Donald Trump. That is an operation that continued to get refined under Democratic and Republican presidents. So it was executed with refinement because our military practiced that so much and and so Democrat it was not but I'm not I'm not disputing the operation success for for I I I actually have on this show touted like when he when he said that the review of what happened at the school in Iran of those girls being killed is under review. I think I was on the show with you and I said that is the right language to use. That was the right thing to do. So I will give him more credit is due, but the language that he uses with our military has further politicized it and that is a problem.
I don't I don't think that's an accurate characterization. Uh again, having been one of those 18-year-old kids that they referenced in there, uh people are not military members, many I talked to hundreds of them a week is not they're not politicized. They're actually motivated. They're actually ready to go execute their function to defend the Constitution of United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic under the leadership of Pete Hegseth. They don't look at the politics of it. We sit here at this table in our ivory tower and our nice suits and we talk about these things. But the men and women in the military definitely I would actually push back on that because I did talk to some people last night in uniform that do feel uncomfortable with what's happening that do feel uncomfortable with the language at large that is not the opinion of our what I would say is that yes that is the military does fall under the command of Pete Hegseth that doesn't dismiss though the fact that he politicized the department. It's not even the department of defense anymore. as the department of war because of like there are just some truths to be here. It doesn't mean that the the men and women who are serving are not going to follow command. What it it does mean that Hegseth and this administration have done some politically charged. If you do I mean what how do you view the social media videos that have been put out that seem to basically gamify war? I mean look, anyone that's gone to war, anyone that has loved someone that has gone to war knows it's not a game. Of course, of course it's not a game. But I'll say that the facts sort of disagree with these characterizations. Our military across all the branches had the highest recruiting numbers that they had the last four years in last administration. Our military was hemorrhaging. It was suffering because people didn't want to join. And so and so and so you're you're talking about can I point with the exception with the exception of the Marine Corps. Of course I have a bias. The Marine Corps kept its its fun or its uh numbers uh for for recruitment. But that's right number five. But I would say that the military the facts disagree with this point that people efforts were going up under Secretary Austin, under the Biden administration. Yes, they continue to go up under No, that is actually not true. That is absolutely not true. It was continuing to go up. And I will say to the game, just get to the gamification of of what we're seeing in war. I mean, you have Call of Duty videos and Spongebob being spliced together as if it is some type of game and people are coming home in caskets and that I think is a real detriment to our military. I agree with you that we should agree on that. that we should take them serious and I agree. We shouldn't gamify combat. It's a dark and ugly ugly thing.