Trump attacks on generals resurface after White House says it’s ‘inappropriate’ to question generals

Old tweets posted by President Trump in which he attacked generals resurfaced Friday after the White House said it was “inappropriate” to criticize them. 

In Friday’s White House press briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it would be “highly inappropriate” to criticize chief of staff John Kelly for his remarks towards a Florida congresswoman about a phone call Trump placed to a Gold Star family.

“If you want to go after Gen. Kelly, that’s up to you. But I think that if you want to get into a debate with a 4-star Marine general, that’s something that’s highly inappropriate,” Sanders said. 

Twitter users, including Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), quickly resurfaced Trump’s old tweets following the briefing.

WH: Why would you question a four-star general?

Trump in 2016: https://t.co/NKXPYhvRcE

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) October 20, 2017

how is there always a tweet https://t.co/T3wUCWmJ3N

— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) October 20, 2017

.@PressSec just said “to go after a four-star Marine General” is “highly inappropriate.”

Gen. John Allen is a four-star Marine General. https://t.co/pFVEHoeWaR

— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) October 20, 2017

In July 2016, Trump called out retired four-star Gen. John Allen, saying he “failed badly” in the fight against ISIS and called his record “BAD.”

Trump’s tweet came after Allen spoke at the Democratic National Convention and endorsed then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

General John Allen, who I never met but spoke against me last night, failed badly in his fight against ISIS. His record = BAD #NeverHillary

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2016

In September of last year, Trump also attacked retired four-star Gen. Colin Powell for “his weak understanding of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”

I was never a fan of Colin Powell after his weak understanding of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq = disaster. We can do much better!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2016

Kelly had accused Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) of using a speech during a 2015 dedication of a new FBI building to take credit for securing the building’s funding.

But video released Friday appears to show that Kelly was incorrect.

But the White House stood by Kelly’s criticism in a statement Friday.

“Gen. Kelly said he was ‘stunned’ that Rep. Wilson made comments at a building dedication honoring slain FBI agents about her own actions in Congress, including lobbying former President Obama on legislation,” Sanders said in statement.