"I believe the president is a racist," he told me. "The statement has to be made." For a former officer of Sanchez's rank to openly brand the president a bigot -- as he does in a 1,322-word statement on racial injustice -- is unprecedented, military historians say.
Americans have heard related criticisms in recent weeks from Gen. Tony Thomas, retired four-star Marine Gen. John Allen, retired three-star Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, retired four-star Gen. Michael Hayden, retired Maj. Gen. Steven Lepper, retired four-star Gen. Barry McCaffrey, and to a certain extent, even retired four-star Gen. John Kelly, who served as Trump's White House chief of staff.
In case that weren't quite enough, the Washington Post recently published an op-ed critical of Trump, co-authored by 78 former Defense Department officials, including four former Pentagon chiefs -- two Democrats and two Republicans. It coincided with a statement, calling on the president not to use the U.S. military for political ends, co-signed by more than 280 retired diplomats, generals, and senior national security officials.
Among the 280 signatories were more than 20 retired generals.
If there's a precedent for a president inspiring this kind of pushback from the retired brass, I'm not aware of it
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