President Donald Trump today defended getting personally involved in the case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher.
To briefly recap, Gallagher was acquitted on charges of serious war crimes but convicted on one charge of posing for a photo with the body of a dead captive. Despite a tweet from the president that the Navy would not take away Gallagher’s Trident pin, the Navy had planned to move forward with a review.
Fast-forward to today, and the Secretary of the Navy has resigned, while Defense Secretary Mark Esper has said POTUS ordered him to allow Gallagher to retain his status.
Today Trump defended his actions and said, “I’m sticking up for our armed forces. And there’s never been a president that’s going to stick up for them and has like I have.”
“Some very unfair things were happening,” he said, before invoking the case of Bowe Bergdahl under the Obama administration.
“He gets a slap in the wrist, if that. And then you have a system where these warriors get put in jail for 25 years. I’m gonna stick for our warrior. I will stick up for the warriors,” Trump added, also referencing Chelsea Manning.
You can watch above, via MSNBC.