Wait was the escalation when rioters started looting and burning stuff? or was it when they shot cops and bystanders? or maybe it was when they started having pallets of bricks deployed to protest areas? Nah, it was when trump sent in the national guard that governors requested.
Trump sending in the national guard was not what escalated this. What escalated this was his usual politicizing of every event. By popping off on twitter with his now famous "when you start looting, we start shooting" tweet.
The national guard could have been sent in without Trump, the governor of each state is in charge of the national guard of that state.
Trump is just trying to take credit for what governors could and would have done unilaterally.
(Oh hey, remember coronavirus? Same thing. Everything that happened was up to governors, his contribution was a net negative. Well, maybe not everything. There is what Mike Pence did, remember, he was "in charge" of everything!)
Much like he's trying to politicize the response by putting GEN Milley "in charge"
The Pentagon's official response was (paraphrasing) "GEN Milley's responsibilities have not changed; he will continue to advise the Sec Def and President"
EDIT:
I should also add, that he tricked GEN Milley into walking into a photo op in front of St. John's church.
The military tries very hard to remain apolitical, and he duped the man into being part of a prop piece.
Miley’s excuse doesn’t hold water. Is he in the habit of wearing BDUs every single day? He commands no troops, a suit or dress uniform is what he would wear at his job. Why change into BDUs if not for a photo op?
I think he’s using a flimsy excuse to walk it back once he got serious public and private blowback over what he was doing.
Everyone in the Army wears that uniform every single day, even to work in an office. That is what he wears to work daily.
Also as the chief of staff he is actually in command of the entire Army.
It's kind of stupid, until you consider that the alternative is wearing a much more annoying dress uniform.
100% he was tricked into it, there's enough out there in the news to figure it out.
The deputy sec def just resigned because Mark Esper wouldn't push back. BTW remember what happened to the last Sec Def, Mattis? Resigned because Trump wouldn't listen to him.
If you haven't noticed yet, Trump surrounds himself with yes men. If they don't go along with it, they are fired.
Staff officers do not wear BDUs every day. He has an office job, not a combat role. Look at any non-emergency meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; you’ll see a lot of dress uniforms, not a lot of BDUs
As the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff he is prohibited by law from exercising any authority over troops. His only responsibility is advising the president, and working with the Secretary of Defense, who does actually command troops.
"Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts."
"Looting leads to shooting, and that’s why a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night - or look at what just happened in Louisville with 7 people shot. I don’t want this to happen, and that’s what the expression put out last night means..."
Perhaps it would be useful to keep an unbiased and neutral attitude when thinking about Trump? Sure, I can see how you think it is a direct threat by Trump. That is how I initially took it as well. But it also the very natural reaction by the residents/business owners to protect themselves and their property. To me, it is entirely plausible and likely he was referring to locals fighting back against the rioters and looters.
