Sen. Tom Cotton Defends Gen. Milley to Fox & Friends: Reports of Usurping Military Control ‘Pretty Farfetched’

Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) pumped the brakes on Fox & Friends with a measured response to the reported actions General Mark Milley took to impede Donald Trump in the last days of his presidency.

Bob Woodward and Robert Costa released previews of their upcoming book claiming Milley was deeply concerned about Trump’s mental state after he lost the 2020 election. The book says Milley took steps to prevent Trump from launching nuclear weapons, and that he called his counterpart in China to insist that the U.S. would not start a war against them.

Trump responded by calling Milley’s reported actions “treason.” The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is also facing criticism for allegedly overstepping his authority, warning China, and usurping civilian control over the military by the commander-in-chief.

Ainsley Earhardt told Cotton “you have to be just flabbergasted by this” as he joined Fox & Friends on Wednesday to react. While the senator agreed that the book raises “serious concerns,” he seemed to decline a full embrace of the allegations until Milley testifies about them before Congress.

“I would say some of the allegations seem somewhat farfetched to me,” Cotton said. “General Milley and Secretary [Lloyd] Austin are going to be testifying in front of Congress in just a few days. We will address these concerns. We don’t want to jump to conclusions yet but we will certainly vet them and see exactly what happened.

“Senator, he’s gotta speak. This is too big for this!” Brian Kilmeade interjected. “We can’t wait for him to testify. If this guy is selling us out to China, going behind the president of the United States, and he is still in power fresh off of the catastrophe in Afghanistan, he’s got to address this!”

“I know he will address it and we will ensure that he addresses it, but this is one of those claims, obviously, that seems a little farfetched,” Cotton responded. “The idea that an American military general is going to warn an adversary if an attack is coming? As you say, when Donald Trump was never even thinking about a military attack against China. The whole thing is pretty farfetched.”

Steve Doocy took a more neutral approach as he quoted Fox Pentagon report Jennifer Griffin to say “Pentagon officials say some of the characterizations in the book are not true. But, she says, he did make multiple calls with his Chinese counterpart and NATO allies that the U.S. is not planning a surprise attack on China or anyone else.”

“Bob Woodward and Bob Acosta are both unbelievable reporters,” Doocy said. “It’s not like they have ever had to walk anything back on this nature. So you have got to figure at least somebody told them these things or multiple sources.”

“We need to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth,” Cotton said. “General Milley will address these matters and we will be sure that he does.”

Watch above, via Fox News.