WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Former U.S. national security advisor H. R. McMaster says both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are “disconnected from our professional military ethic and our warrior ethos,” following Trump’s recent actions at Arlington National Cemetery and past comments from Biden.
“This is behavior that I think is right to call out … you know, promoting a partisan political agenda or a campaign agenda (at Arlington),” McMaster told NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt during an interview that will air Sunday.
See more of Chris Stirewalt’s interview with H.R. McMaster on The Hill Sunday. Find out how to watch at joinNN.com
An Arlington National Cemetery official was “abruptly pushed aside” in an altercation with Trump’s staff during a wreath-laying ceremony to honor service members killed in the Afghanistan War withdrawal. Still, she declined to press charges, an Army spokesman said Thursday.
The Army spokesman said the cemetery employee was trying to ensure those participating in Monday’s wreath-laying ceremony to mark the third anniversary of the attack were following the rules, which “clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.”
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McMaster, however, also took issue with Biden’s past actions on the hallowed ground.
“It also made me think about when Biden visited Area 60, again the area where our recent war dead are laid to rest, and he thought it was a good idea to announce the timeline for a withdrawal from Afghanistan among those who gave their lives in Afghanistan,” McMaster said.
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He said both instances demonstrate that neither “seem to understand” why it’s “important not to drag our military into partisan politics.”
McMaster also criticized Biden’s handling of the chaotic Afghanistan War withdrawal in 2021 that led to a suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members.
“I think it’s been a geostrategic disaster,” McMaster said. “I think you can draw a direct line from what happened in August of 2021, the disastrous, deadly humiliating withdrawal and the massive reinvasion of Ukraine in February of 2022.”
“Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin perceived weakness in America after that disastrous surrender to the Taliban,” he added.
