On Wednesday, as President Trump visited American troops stationed in Iraq at the al-Asad airbase, CNN took a shot at the troops who asked Trump to sign their “Make America Great Again” hats or their embroidered patches reading “Trump 2020.” The network discussed whether the service members might have violated Department of Defense guidelines against partisan political activities, and later implied on its website that the troops had indeed violated the rules. But CNN left out a key part of the guidelines when they quoted them.
On CNN’s “The Situation Room,” the network turned to a military expert to determine whether what the troops did was inappropriate. Shockingly, that military expert turned out to be none other than Retired Rear Adm. John Kirby, a former Obama administration spokesperson. Even more shockingly, Kirby theorized that the troops’ actions were indeed inappropriate, saying archly, “It is in fact a campaign slogan, that is a campaign item, and it is completely inappropriate for the troops to do this.”
The segment began with CNN’s Jim Acosta asking Kirby, “And John, what would the concern be if something like that is going on, do you think? Or is this just a soldier’s there, he’s got a hat in his locker, and he runs over and says, “Hey, when am I gonna have another chance for the president to sign one of these things?”
Kirby answered, “Yeah, look; it kind of blurs the line, because Trump is his slogan; where is that line? But Barb’s right; it is, in fact, a campaign slogan that is a campaign item, and it is completely inappropriate for the troops to do this.”
Acosta: “Not supposed to do it.” – READ MORE