Retired members of the U.S. military echoed retired Marine Gen. John Kelly’s warnings about former President Donald Trump in a press conference on Wednesday, saying that the Republican candidate will “rule like a dictator” if he wins in a second term.
“The people who worked most closely with Trump are telling you that he means it when he promises to rule as a dictator on day one and to terminate the Constitution,” retired U.S. Army Reserve Col. Kevin Carroll said in the press conference, which was organized by the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Carroll previously served in the Trump administration as an adviser to Kelly, who he called a “dedicated, measured public servant.”
Kelly served as Trump’s chief of staff, working closely with the former president from 2017-2019. In an interview with The New York Times published Tuesday, Kelly called his former boss a "fascist" and said he had no understanding of the Constitution. Kelly decided to speak out after Trump recently suggested using the military to go after his political opponents.
Kelly added that Trump “would govern like a dictator if allowed,” mentioning previous instances where the Republican nominee openly admired Adolf Hitler.
Carroll echoed Kelly’s concerns and warned that the risk to democracy will be great should Trump take office a second time.
“Let's be clear, the dangers of a second Trump term don't lie solely in his rhetoric, but in his actions,” Carroll said before noting the former president's attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election and his desire to weaponize the military against American citizens. "The only reason Trump was stopped last time was because people like Gen. Kelly stood in the breach and acted as a check to Trump's worst impulses. A second time around, those guardrails won't exist."
Retired U.S. Army General Steven Anderson also spoke out against Trump in the press conference. He said it's his duty to protect democracy as a former member of a respected non-partisan institution.
“Trump is a threat to our democracy and to the world,” Anderson said. “We're hoping that our message will resonate with Americans far and wide that continue to respect the military.”
Though he identifies as a Republican, Anderson stated that he would support Harris and urged others, including Kelly, to do the same.
“We think she has the temperament, the intelligence and the background, the experience with 150 world leaders, I can go on and on,” he said. She will make a great president of the United States. And I'm frankly disappointed that John Kelly won't come up and actually say that.”
On the same day as Kelly’s interview was published in The Times, The Atlantic dropped a bombshell report that includes anecdotes of Trump getting frustrated with the military’s lack of blind obedience during his time as president.
“I need the kind of generals Hitler had,” he said to one of his staff members. “People who were totally loyal to him, that follow orders,” the former President added.
A Trump spokesperson denied that these comments were true.
Following the release of the two articles, Harris shared a warning from the White House on Wednesday afternoon, calling Trump “unhinged and unstable.” Like Carroll, the Democratic nominee warned that Trump’s staff will not protect the country from his destructive impulses.
"Those who once tried to stop him from pursuing his worst impulses and no longer be there to rein him in. So the bottom line is this, we know what Donald Trump wants, he wants unchecked power," Harris said. “The question in 13 days will be what do the American people want."
