Last September, former President Donald Trump accused retired Gen. Mark Milley of committing treason, saying that as punishment, he should be put to death. Now, Milley has responded months later.
Milley’s comments came during a House Foreign Affairs hearing on Tuesday while he was questioned about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. However, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) brought up the remarks from Trump, to which Milley appeared to shut down.
“I don’t agree with the comments, but it’s a free country, and people can say what they want. With all due respect, guys, I’m here for the families of Abbey Gate,” Milley said. “I’m here for the families of those that served in Afghanistan.”
During the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, 13 United States service members were killed in the madness that broke out in the country. Despite saying he didn’t like Trump’s comments, Milley appeared focused solely on the topic of the hearing.
“And I’ll leave those comments — as much as I don’t care for those comments, don’t agree with them — they have a right to say them,” he continued. “But I’d like to stay focused on these families.”
Milley served as the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff while Trump was in office but has since been more critical of the former president.
During a retirement speech, in the days after Trump made his threat on social media, the General referred to him as a “wannabe dictator.”
“We are unique among the world’s militaries. We don’t take an oath to a country. We don’t take an oath to a tribe. We don’t take an oath to a religion. We don’t take an oath to a king, or a queen, or to a tyrant or a dictator,” Milley said. “And we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator. We don’t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America — and we’re willing to die to protect it.”