Two Republican senators had vastly different reactions to Bob Woodward and Robert Acosta's claim that Army General Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, impeded then-President Donald Trump in his administration's last days.
Soon after Woodward and Acosta released a preview of their upcoming book about the Trump administration's tumultuous end, the allegation against Milley became public. According to the excerpt, Milley became increasingly concerned by Trump's refusal to let go of baseless accusations that Democrats stole the presidential election. Worried by Trump's mental state, their book states that the general quietly sought to ensure the president didn't use nuclear weapons in his final hours and called his Chinese counterpart to reassure Beijing after the Capitol insurrection attempt.
On Fox & Friends, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) dismissed the accusations as “farfetched.” A partial transcript of the appearance reported by Mediaite included Cotton explaining that “General Milley and Secretary [Lloyd] Austin are going to be testifying in front of Congress in just a few days. We will address these concerns. We don't want to jump to conclusions yet but we will certainly vet them and see exactly what happened.”
For co-hosts Brian Kilmeade and Ainsley Earhardt, that wasn't good enough—yet Cotton stood firm, saying that “[Gen. Milley] will address [the report] and we will ensure that he addresses it” when he testifies. That reply was sufficient for at least one interviewer.
Steve Doocy took a more neutral approach as he quoted Fox Pentagon reporter Jennifer Griffin to say “Pentagon officials say some of the characterizations in the book are not true. But, she says, he did make multiple calls with his Chinese counterpart and NATO allies that the U.S. is not planning a surprise attack on China or anyone else.”
“Bob Woodward and Bob Acosta are both unbelievable reporters,” Doocy said. “It's not like they have ever had to walk anything back on this nature. So you have got to figure at least somebody told them these things or multiple sources.”
Meanwhile, The Federalist reported that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sent a letter to the White House, demanding President Biden sack Milley for allegedly impeding the commander-in-chief.
“These actions by General Milley demonstrate a clear lack of sound judgement, and I urge you to dismiss him immediately,” Rubio wrote. “I do not need to tell of you the dangers posed by senior military officers leaking classified information on U.S. military operations, but I will underscore that such subversion undermines the President's ability to negotiate and leverage one of this nation's instruments of national power in his interactions with foreign nations.”
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Rubio also chastised Milley for trying to “rationalize his reckless behavior” by claiming the “military's judgement was more stable than its civilian commander.”
Appearing on the pro-Trump media outlet Newsmax, Trump implied that Milley was guilty of treasonous behavior.
