President Trump took shots at the retired Navy SEAL admiral who led the U.S. operation taking down Osama bin Laden, labeling him a Hillary Clinton supporter and stating it would have been “nice” if the mastermind behind Sept. 11 had been eliminated “sooner.”
Trump condemned William McRaven when pressed by Fox News host Chris Wallace on comments McRaven made during a 2017 speech. McRaven told students at the University of Texas at Austin that the president’s attacks on the press were “the greatest threat to democracy.”
“OK, he’s a Hilary Clinton, uh, backer, and an Obama-backer, and frankly,” Trump said during the interview, which aired on “Fox News Sunday.”
“He was a Navy Seal 37 years,” Wallace replied.
“Wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that, wouldn’t it have been nice?” Trump continued. “You know, living — think of this — living in Pakistan, beautifully in Pakistan in what I guess they considered a nice mansion, I don’t know, I’ve seen nicer. But living in Pakistan right next to the military academy, everybody in Pakistan knew he was there. And we give Pakistan $1.3 billion a year and they don’t tell him, they don’t tell him.”
While McRaven has been vocal in his opposition of Trump stripping past government officials of their security clearances, he never endorsed Clinton for president ahead of the 2016 election. He was reportedly included on a shortlist for national security roles within the Trump administration that was compiled by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie when he was heading the transition process.
McRaven told CNN Sunday he stood by his remarks, adding that any attempt to undermine “the people’s right to a free press and freedom of speech and expression” threatens the Constitution.
“I did not back Hillary Clinton or anyone else. I am a fan of President Obama and President George W. Bush, both of whom I worked,” he said. “I admire all Presidents, regardless of their political party, who uphold the dignity of the office and who use that office to bring the Nation together in challenge times.”
McRaven developed and oversaw Operation Neptune Spear, the Navy SEAL raid that killed bin Laden on May 2, 2011, in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
