The military “was never intended to be used for partisan political purposes,” he wrote.
Former Defense Secretary William Perry on Thursday accused President Donald Trump of politicizing the armed forces and criticized his threats to deploy the military against American citizens.
Perry, a national security expert who served in government for decades, including as Defense secretary from 1994 to 1997 under President Bill Clinton, said in a statement provided to POLITICO that the military “was never intended to be used for partisan political purposes.”
In the statement, Perry criticized the current secretary, Mark Esper, for labeling the streets of America a “battlespace” and for taking part in the president’s photo-op outside St. John’s Episcopal Church near the White House on Monday.
“When I was Secretary of Defense I made it a priority to avoid any suggestion of support for partisan political actions, and I assured that the president did not use any military facilities to support his political ends,” Perry wrote. “But on Monday Secretary Esper walked with the president to St. John’s Church in an implicit show of support, after peaceful demonstrators in Lafayette Park had been forcibly subdued and dispersed with tear gas under the orders of Attorney General Barr.”
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Perry also cited the Constitution when criticizing Trump, claiming the president demands that his officials are loyal to him above all else.
“But in the United States, those who serve in the government and the military swear an oath to support the Constitution, not any individual,” Perry wrote. “That is what makes our nation great.”
Perry expressed his sadness at the killing of Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died on May 25 after a Minneapolis police officer pinned his knee on his neck for more than eight minutes.
“I am outraged at the disregard for life that is evidenced in the video we’ve all seen,” Perry wrote. “It is an ugly indictment of a legacy of racism that our nation continues to struggle to overcome.”
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Former Defense Secretary William Perry accused President Trump of politicizing the armed forces and criticized his threats to deploy the military against American citizens https://t.co/ZPRjZU73wP
— POLITICO (@politico) June 4, 2020
I am outraged at the deplorable behavior of our President and Defense Secretary Esper, threatening to use American military forces to suppress peaceful demonstrators exercising their constitutional rights. This is a deeply shameful moment for our nation. https://t.co/zO8bEMd0YB
— William J. Perry (@SecDef19) June 5, 2020
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