Retired Gen. McChrystal urges Trump to make coronavirus fight national

Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal urged President Trump to nationalize his response to the coronavirus pandemic in a Thursday interview.  

McCrystal’s comments come as more states, most of which have issued stay-at-home orders of their own, have called on the president to file a national order. 

“We should not be fighting COVID-19 as 50 separate fights, 50 separate states and territories and certainly not at individual municipal levels. This needs to be a collaborative national-level fight,” the former head of Joint Special Operations Command said on NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

McChrystal compared the pandemic to fighting al Qaeda in Iraq. 

“When the president talks to the nation about COVID-19, I wish he’d stand up in front of a map and he’d show what things are and he’d say, ‘America, this is an American problem. It’s also a global problem. We’re going to fight it as an American fight’ — not as leaving any city or state off on their own to do as well as they can,” he said. 

McCrystal has a history of criticizing the president, questioning Trump’s decision to send troops to the southern border and expressing concern over his repeated criticism of former military leaders.

In December, the retired four-star Army general said on ABC’s “This Week” that he would not work for the Trump administration because “I don’t think he tells the truth.” 

Trump fired back on Twitter, saying: “‘General’ McChrystal got fired like a dog by Obama. Last assignment a total bust. Known for big, dumb mouth. Hillary lover!”