John Brennan Calls Trump Presidency ‘Third-Greatest Crisis In American History’
John Brennan had some harsh words for Donald Trump on Saturday, appearing on HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher and agreeing with the host that the Trump presidency is the “third-greatest crisis in American history.”
As Fox News reports, the former CIA director, whose security clearance was revoked by Trump for reasons that remain in dispute, stopped by the show to continue his “war of words,” as Fox News calls it, with Trump.
Maher set the stage for Brennan by first stating his (Maher’s) own belief that the Trump presidency is the third-greatest crisis in American history, behind the Revolutionary War and Civil War, and just in front of the Great Depression. When asked if he agrees, Brennan says he does.
“I would [agree]. And I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
Brennan then went on to suggest that Trump has the power, as president, to create some sort of domestic or international “distraction” to take away from his failures as president.
“Donald Trump has the authority of the president of the United States in his hands, in terms of what he can do domestically here and as well as what he can do internationally to try to distract attention, whether or not he’s going to try to pursue some type of foreign adventure, military or otherwise.”
You can watch the entire video below.
Brennan also doubled down on his choice to use the word “treasonous” to describe Trump’s Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin, during which Trump purportedly failed to give Putin a dressing down for Russian interference in the 2016 election. According to The Hill, Brennan said that he is “running out of adjectives” to describe Trump and his presidency.
“He’s not on our side.”
At @realtimers, Bill interviewing John Brennan. https://t.co/HOHGiSCAy0 pic.twitter.com/4PjUB8R4ek
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) August 25, 2018
Last week, Trump revoked Brennan’s security clearance, after claiming that his repeated “outbursts” were “wholly inconsistent with access to the nation’s most closely held secrets and facilities.” He also accused Brennan of “profiting” off of his security clearance, a charge which he denies. Other revocations of security clearances of officials critical of Trump are rumored to be in the works.
Meanwhile, at least one Trump administration official supports the president in revoking Brennan’s security clearance. Retired Admiral Michael Mullen, for example, told Fox News that Brennan’s anti-Trump remarks jeopardize the intelligence community at large.
“He has been incredibly critical of the president, and I think that has put him in a political place which actually does more damage for the intelligence community.”
