Military.com reports that Trump's viciously partisan attack speech to the troops at Fort Bragg was filled with only soldiers that pledged allegiance to Trump.
Whenever Trump attacked President Biden, Governor Newsom and his political rivals, many of the troops howled in support or wildly booed, which is not the norm when they are in uniform.
There was a valid but unsurprising reason for their actions.
Internal 82nd Airborne Division communications reviewed by Military.com reveal a tightly orchestrated effort to curate the optics of Trump's recent visit, including handpicking soldiers for the audience based on political leanings and physical appearance. The troops ultimately selected to be behind Trump and visible to the cameras were almost exclusively male.
One unit-level message bluntly said "no fat soldiers."
"If soldiers have political views that are in opposition to the current administration and they don't want to be in the audience then they need to speak with their leadership and get swapped out," another note to troops said.
"This has been a bad week for the Army for anyone who cares about us being a neutral institution," one commander at Fort Bragg told Military.com on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation. "This was shameful. I don't expect anything to come out of it, but I hope maybe we can learn from it long term."
Trump abuses the military at every turn.
There is never an honest moment coming from his mouth or his administration.
