Morning Joe ‘Stunned’ By HR McMaster’s ‘Tightrope’ Framing Of Trump – Despite ‘Frightening’ Scenes In New Book
Morning Joe panelists accused ex-Trump national security advisor General HR McMaster of trying to “thread a needle” in his new book with a “tightrope” framing of his time working for former President Donald Trump and refusal to warn about the “dangers of a second Trump administration.”
McMaster appeared on Morning Joe on Tuesday to discuss his book that was released the same day, entitled At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House. During the segment, interviewed by host Jonathan Lemire, the retired general guardedly pushed back on attempts to make a call on Trump’s overall “fitness for office” and whether he’d vote for him in November.
Katty Kay then read a portion from the book in which McMaster admitted that the former president’s interaction with China’s President Xi Jinping left him with “a wave of apprehension that caused a sinking feeling in [his] stomach.” McMaster also revealed Trump’s attempts to charm Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
McMaster, however, insisted his book was not a warning but an attempt to “inform” on “harnessing” Trump, who he repeatedly described as a “disruptor.”
In reaction, panelists — including regular Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle — praised McMaster as a “brilliant guy” but called out what they saw was a “stark contradiction” in his “how far he is willing to go and how far he is not willing to go in criticizing Donald Trump.”
Washington Post associate editor Eugene Robinson weighed in to call out McMaster’s “reluctance” to criticize Trump.
I think there’s just a stark contradiction in the position that he is taking. I do understand the reluctance and reticence of retired generals, certainly serving generals, to speak out on politics, what he calls partisan politics. The military, you know, serves whichever party is in office and whichever president is in office, civilian control is certainly a hallmark of the way this country has always operated and should always operate. But that said, there’s a difference between, you know, partisan politics and the future of the nation and national security. Things that a retired general, I think, should and does care about.
And so on one hand, he says ‘get over it’, on the other hand he details these episodes and incidents that are really frightening – at the very least unsettling [that would cause one to] question the man’s fitness to hold any office, much less be commander in chief. And so I don’t think there’s a tight rope there. I think if that’s what you’re going to tell us, then you should own up to the fact that that’s what you’re telling us.
Lemire then asked Barnicle whether McMaster “should have gone further and made this book more of a warning about what a second Trump term could be.” Barnacle replied:
First of all, I have not read the book. I have enormous respect for General McMaster. He is a brilliant guy. His book on Vietnam, Dereliction of Duty, is something I think every military officer has read. He’s a graduate of West Point, Phd from North Carolina, Chapel Hill. And I was stunned, stunned at one excerpt verbally that he indicated just during the interview with you with regard to Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, where Donald Trump thought he could win his way with Putin by offering him a free room at Mar-a-Lago, whatever, that his personality would dominate Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Putin is one of the most dangerous people in the world. And the President of the United States thinking he can win him over with a smile and a meal or whatever Donald Trump thought was shocking to me, hearing that from General Mcmaster.
We’ve had other generals. General Barry Mccaffrey, General John Kelly, other generals speak out adamantly about the dangers of a second Trump administration and I think General McMaster sort of toed the line on that and I was surprised by it.
Watch above on MSNBC.
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