John Brennan hits Trump on Vietnam War deferments in defense of Jim Clapper

Calling attention to Trump’s multiple deferments during the Vietnam War, Brennan said, “Jim Clapper is a man of integrity, honesty, ethics, & morality. You are not. Jim Clapper served his country for over a half century, including in Vietnam. You did not. By your words & behavior, you diminish the Office of the Presidency.”

Trump, a longtime businessman-turned-president, received five draft deferments during the Vietnam War, the first four being for college and the fifth for heel spurs. Brennan, a longtime government employee, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in the early 1960s and eventually made it up to the rank of lieutenant general in the U.S. Air Force. While serving in the military, Clapper participated in two combat tours during the Southeast Asia conflict and flew dozens of combat support missions over Laos and Cambodia.

Earlier in the day Saturday, Trump called Clapper a “lying machine who now works for Fake News CNN” while reacting to a “Fox & Friends” segment on the House Intelligence Committee report on Russian activities during the 2016 election that accuses Clapper of providing “inconsistent testimony” about his contact with the media regarding an opposition research dossier on then-President-elect Trump.

Clapper retired as DNI on the day of Trump’s inauguration and now works as a CNN analyst.

Brennan has long been a critic of Trump’s on Twitter. In reacting to the House Intelligence report, which found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, he sent an ominous warning Trump’s way.

“A highly partisan, incomplete, and deeply flawed report by a broken House Committee means nothing. The Special Counsel’s work is being carried out by professional investigators—not political staffers. SC’s findings will be comprehensive & authoritative. Stay tuned, Mr. Trump….,” he tweeted Friday.