Donald Trump Slammed As ‘Cowardly Man’ By Former GOP Strategist

President Donald Trump has had several former Republicans and former members of his administration speak out against him in the wake of protests and riots in the United States, which happened after George Floyd’s death. Steve Schmidt, a former GOP strategist, took to Twitter on Friday to slam Trump’s recent actions.

In a lengthy 12-part tweet, Schmidt took Trump to task for his behavior since Monday when his administration cleared peaceful protesters near the White House with pepper balls and other devices to move them back while he walked to St. John’s Church. Since then, he has repeatedly called for the U.S. armed forces to restore order to the country, which has experienced protests along with riots and looting in response to Floyd’s alleged death at the hands of four former Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day.

Schmidt, whose Republican group, The Lincoln Project, wants Trump defeated by 2020, declared that the U.S. military is apolitical and serves the country, adding that it is the world’s most lethal combat force. He then took the president to task for using it against citizens who are exercising their constitutional right to protest peacefully.

? @realDonaldTrump is no longer hiding that he’s a brazen authoritarian, so desiring of control and power that he’s willing to turn our once peaceful cities into war zones.#AmericaOrTrump pic.twitter.com/8Kn5Zi14Qx

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) June 3, 2020

“The crisis isn’t the protestors. It’s the President. He is a cowardly man who deserted the Oval Office and fled to an underground Bunker. Dolly Madison, he was not. He desecrated a bible after doing violence to the American people. Lawfully assembled Americans were exercising their Constitutional rights to Speech and assembly when they were gassed, beaten, trampled, and assaulted by the very Law Enforcement officers who were obligated by oath to protect them. This included an Episcopal Priest in a house of worship.”

Schmidt also called out Attorney General William Barr for giving the orders to have the peaceful protesters moved before the president walked to the church on Monday. By Wednesday, retired General James Mattis, who served in Trump’s administration, issued a stark warning about his actions and noted that the U.S. was witnessing the result of three-and-a-half years of immature leadership.

Some people felt that Mattis’s strongly-worded missive would allow others to speak out against Trump, and it did. On Friday, his former chief of staff, retired general John Kelly, also said that he did not agree with what happened on Monday or the president’s use of the military against U.S. citizens.

“It is Trump and his henchmen and women who threaten liberty and freedom. This is an hour of choosing. America or Trump,” wrote Schmidt.

The former GOP strategist’s words echoed those of a video released by The Lincoln Project on Wednesday.