Trump: Chelsea Manning an ‘ungrateful traitor’ for criticizing Obama

“Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!” Trump tweeted.

Obama commuted Manning’s sentence in one of his last acts in office last week. Manning had been sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking thousands of Army documents on the Iraq war.

In a column in The Guardian, Manning said Obama was too willing to compromise, and said an “unapologetic progressive leader” is needed.

Manning’s supporters believed the former analyst was sentenced unfairly and was being punished for Edward Snowden’s release of hundreds of thousands of documents on the National Security Agency’s mass data collection program. Snowden managed to escape to Hong Kong and then to Moscow instead of facing charges in the United States.

Manning faced a court martial and received a sentence several years longer than a civilian court would have likely handed down. Manning, who demanded sex reassignment therapy once apprehended, was formerly known as Bradley Manning. Manning is set to be released from prison in May after Obama’s decision.

Trump’s use of the word “traitor” will likely be controversial, as it’s gotten him in a legal tangle already with another high-profile Army court case.

Attorneys for Army Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl argued in court last week that the desertion case against him should be dropped because Trump has repeatedly called Bergdahl a traitor for leaving his post.

They argued that calling someone a traitor means accusing them of treason, a legal term, and Trump was denying Bergdahl his due process rights to a fair trial by presuming guilt of a crime with which Bergdahl had not been charged.