Former Pentagon chief Esper says Trump wanted to shoot protesters
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper charges in a memoir out May 10 that former President Trump said when demonstrators were filling the streets around the White House following the death of George Floyd: "Can't you just shoot them?Just shoot them in the legs or something?"
Why it matters: The book, "A Sacred Oath," contains vivid, first-person revelations by a top Cabinet member, bolstering outsiders' accounts of extreme dysfunction in Trump's White House.
Esper, who had earlier been Secretary of the Army, was fired by Trump after the 2020 election.
That moment in the first week of June, 2020, "was surreal, sitting in front of the Resolute desk, inside the Oval Office, with this idea weighing heavily in the air, and the president red faced and complaining loudly about the protests under way in Washington, D.C.," Esper writes.
"The good news — this wasn't a difficult decision," Esper continues. "The bad news — I had to figure out a way to walk Trump back without creating the mess I was trying to avoid."
Behind the curtain: The book was vetted at the highest levels of the Pentagon. I'm told that as part of the clearance process, the book was reviewed in whole or in part by nearly three dozen 4-star generals, senior civilians, and some Cabinet members.
Some of them had witnessed what Esper witnessed.
During the book's security review, Esper sued the Pentagon over a classification dispute.
Context: Esper enraged Trump by publicly stating in June 2020 that he opposed invoking the Insurrection Act — an 1807 law that permits the president to use active-duty troops on U.S. soil — in order to quell protests against racial injustice.
Michael Bender — then with The Wall Street Journal, now with the N.Y. Times — reported last year in his book, "Frankly, We Did Win This Election," that Trump repeatedly called for law enforcement to shoot protesters during heated meetings inside the Oval Office.
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Esper should have said something at the time, not waited two years to tell the truth.
That's seems to be the norm, save the best parts for your tell-all book.
He could have saved Lt. Michael Byrd the trouble.
The truth is that he didn't say a word about shooting anyone. Got a link to the audiotape?
The US Secretary of Defense at the time, someone who was chosen for the position by Trump, says he did.
This time they really have Trump. Expect impeachment proceedings any day now.
In a book that probably wouldn't sell 100 copies if he didn't claim Trump did or said outrageous things.
Is that supposed to be an argument for your side? By the way, someone truly "right down the center" would wonder why a president of the United States would say such a thing about American citizens. It is extremely unlikely that Mark Esper is lying.
Is it your conjecture that having that in the book will not increase sales of the book so people can see what else he may have said to trash Trump?
I would wonder about why a president would say it if I was sure he said it and the context in which it was said. A dose of skepticism is not a bad thing, especially when there may very well be an ulterior motive for saying it.....money
Why is it unlikely Esper is lying or stretching the truth in order to sell books? You are not familiar with people doing that? You have any other proof that he is not lying or stretching the truth or is a desire to believe anything said about Trump that is negative all you have?
BTW your obsession on my screen name is getting a little creepy.
What is creepy is that a far-right winger would choose such a screen name.
So it's the result of a game of Telephone.
You jumping on the creepy bandwagon because you can't actually respond coherently to the post?
He just thought it up. And naturally, there is nothing to back up such a [deleted claim.]
His ghost writer may have told him book sales would number in the tens if he didn't sling some mud for the less intelligent readers.
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Good point.
”Esper should have said something at the time, not waited two years to tell the truth.”
Because it was a question in jest and not a serious order - and another kiss and make-up-shit-tell-all book is on the rack.
People throwing batteries and frozen bottles of water at police aren't protesters they're rioters using deadly weapons and are guilty of attempted murder.
Okay, by your standard Capital Police should have shot a few thousand instead of just The Martyred Saint of Trump's Insurrection Ashley Babbitt...
They should have made their stand at the front doors, you may have noticed it only took Ashley Babbitt's death to prevent anyone else from trying to enter that door so one or two at the front door and nobody would have breeched the capitol building at all. As for any others outside the building who were assaulting officers the officers should have abided by normal procedures for the use of deadly force. It would hardly be thousands but I did see a guy or two on the lawn I'd of put a slug in. The best part about shooting a violent aggressor is it instantly changes the mindset of the crowd from "lets kick ass" to "lets not get shot".
You’ve conflated may and should.