Prez, GOP dishonorable to disparage admiral

President Trump and the GOP should not be denigrating distinguished members of the military.

Last Sunday, President Trump responded to criticism from retired Navy Adm. William McRaven by saying the former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command was a “backer” of Hillary Clinton.

Though McRaven organized and executed the bin Laden raid in Pakistan in May 2011, the president managed to diminish the feat.

“Wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that, wouldn’t it have been nice?” Trump said.

The president had been set off by a comment McRaven had made about President Trump’s continued difficulties with the press. McRaven lambasted Trump for repeatedly calling the media the “enemy of the people,” saying the president’s sentiment was “the greatest threat to democracy” in his lifetime.

Monday, the Republican National Committee jumped to Trump’s defense, tweeting, “Worth noting after recent comments: Retired Adm. William McRaven was reportedly on Hillary Clinton’s short list for Vice President in 2016. He’s been critical of President @realDonaldTrump — even dating back to the 2016 campaign. He’s hardly a non-political figure.”

While it was irresponsible for a high-ranking albeit retired military officer to refer to the commander in chief’s words as “the greatest threat to democracy” in his lifetime, it is also repugnant for a president to diminish a decorated officer and the Navy SEALs.

Furthermore, it is disgraceful, irresponsible and foolish for the RNC to pile on.

We must be relentless in our condemnation of our elected leaders when they dishonor our heroic military personnel and ask that those in every form of politics and punditry tone down the inflammatory rhetoric.