Former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Army Gen. Mark Milley has denounced Donald Trump as a "total fascist," and has branded him the "most dangerous person" in America, Washington Post editor Bob Woodward reports in his latest book, "War," according to the Guardian.
Milley has warned that Trump will indulge his authoritarian aims while armed with all the power of the presidency if he makes it to the White House again, Woodward reports.
Milley emphasized to Woodward in an interview that Trump is "fascist to the core," according to the book obtained by the Guardian, which will be published Wednesday.
"I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he's a total fascist," Milley told Woodward. "He is now the most dangerous person to this country."
"No one has ever been as dangerous to this country," he emphasized again.
Milley has also warned former colleagues of his fears, according to Woodward, and called Trump a "walking, talking advertisement of what he's going to try to do" if he wins the White House again. "He's saying it, and it's not just him, it's the people around him," Milley is quoted in the book as saying.
Milley recalled a 2020 Oval Office meeting in which Trump "yelled" and "shouted" about court-martialing former generals who criticized him in the press, which now clearly includes Milley. He told Woodward he fears being recalled to uniform specifically so he could be court-martialed in an action that would be initiated by Trump, the Guardian reported.
Since his retirement last year, Milley said he has received "a non-stop barrage of death threats."
At his retirement last year Milley defiantly declared: "We don't take an oath to a king, or queen, or tyrant or a dictator, and we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator ... 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."
“We don’t take an oath to a king, or queen, or to a tyrant or a dictator. 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’re willing to die to protect it.” – Gen. Mark Milley (2023) pic.twitter.com/9lOkqpOiuN
— Republican Voters Against Trump (@AccountableGOP) October 11, 2024
Despite his dire warnings about Trump, Milley told the Atlantic in an interview last year that he has "confidence in the American people."
"The United States of America is an extraordinarily resilient country, agile and flexible, and the inherent goodness of the American people is there. I've always believed that, and I will go to my grave believing that," he said.
Just in time to reinforce Milley's observations, Trump said ominously at a Colorado rally Friday that the "real enemy" of America — far worse than Russia or China — is the "scum" of the nation, apparently referring to those who don't support him, which he branded the "enemy from within."
Trump in Aurora: "The enemy from within. All the scum that we have to deal with that hate our country. That's a bigger enemy than China and Russia." pic.twitter.com/bE4H3DLQX7
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 11, 2024
