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At times, Milley also clashed with top White House officials who sought to encourage the then-President's behavior.
During one Oval Office debate, senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller chimed in, equating the scenes unfolding on his television to those in a third-world country and claiming major American cities had been turned into war zones.
"These cities are burning," Miller warned, according to the excerpts.
The comment infuriated Milley, who viewed Miller as not only wrong but out of his lane, Bender writes, noting the Army general who had commanded troops in Iraq and Afghanistan spun around in his seat and pointed a finger directly at Miller.
"Shut the f--k up, Stephen," Milley snapped, according to the excerpts.
'What we have, Mr. President, is a protest'
Still, Milley made a concerted effort to stay in Washington as much as possible during those final months. A significant concern for Milley at the time was how to advise Trump if he decided to invoke the Insurrection Act in the wake of civil unrest -- a move that would have military force on the streets against civilians.
Ultimately, Trump never invoked the Insurrection Act but repeatedly suggested doing so during the end of his tenure -- putting Milley and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper in a complicated situation each time.
Both Milley and Esper were deeply opposed to the idea when Trump first suggested it last June following protests against police brutality and racial injustice (SIC) in the wake of George Floyd's death.
According to Bender, Milley viewed the unrest around Floyd's death as a political problem, not a military one.
He told the President there were more than enough reserves in the National Guard to support law enforcement responding to the protests. Milley told him that invoking the Insurrection Act would shift responsibility for the protests from local authorities directly to the President, according to the excerpts obtained by CNN.
Milley spotted President Abraham Lincoln's portrait hanging just to the right of Trump and pointed directly at it, Bender writes.
"That guy had an insurrection," Milley said. "What we have, Mr. President, is a protest."
Tony Shaffer
@T_S_P_O_O_K_Y
10h
Scott is correct...@NDU_EDU reports directly to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs - the idea that "white rage" drove the 6th Jan riot is insane and bigoted...plus the fact Mark Milley promoted a pure racist term of 'white rage' as something he suffers from...he needs to go...
The problem with the military’s embrace of critical race theory and other forms of identity politics is threefold. Firstly, they destroy trust and undermine unit cohesion. Secondly, they undermine trust between political and military leaders on the one hand and those they lead on the other. And finally, they undermine trust between the military as an institution and the public.
Milley is so over the top, I wonder if he isn't just an MSM parody who may be purposely running interference for Trump in some way.
However, in this day and age, who knows? The shadow dances continue.
Greenwald is the only trustworthy journalist in the world because he writes with a Brazilian toddler's penis in his mouth, just like Gaetz.
SumatraBosch
Greenwald is the only trustworthy journalist in the world because he writes with a Brazilian toddler's penis in his mouth, just like Gaetz.
SumatraBosch saysGreenwald is the only trustworthy journalist in the world because he writes with a Brazilian toddler's penis in his mouth, just like Gaetz.
@SumatraBosch Greenwald has left the CNN plantation.
You could leave too. You should.
Guess who talked him out of it?
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/24/politics/bender-book-trump-milley-protests/index.html
"But but the Whitey Hats! My friend who retired 15 years ago from the Fed/Mil told me that..."