September 09, 2020
Trump allegedly disparaged America’s war dead. The backlash probably won’t decide the election.
Last week, the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg posted an article recounting comments President Trump made about America’s war dead. Multiple sources have now independently corroborated many of the details, although some specifics remain in question.
The military is political, but civil-military lines are more blurred than ever.
The story sparked a media firestorm and a reaction from Trump on Twitter. This controversy also brings back into focus the significant tension between the norm of the military staying out of partisan politics versus its often political role inside presidential administrations.
Here’s how to understand the controversy over civilian-military roles.
Read the full article in The Washington Post.
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