CNN's Chris Cuomo spars with ex-Trump administration official over Navy secretary firing

On Wednesday's edition of CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time," Chris Cuomo sparred with conservative think tank fellow and former John Bolton chief of staff Fred Fleitz over President Donald Trump's interference into the Eddie Gallagher war crimes case and his dismissal of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, whose new op-ed criticizing the president came out hours before.

"Why do you think it is that Richard Spencer seems to echo what we've heard implicitly or explicitly from General Mattis, General Kelly?" asked Cuomo. "Why do military men seem to find this president so lacking in ethics and character?"

"Chris, I don't think that's true of all military men. Politics can get into the military just like any other element of government," said Fleitz. "First of all, I've known [Defense Secretary] Mark Esper for many years ... this is what the Navy Secretary said in his op-ed. 'If we had a general or admiral as a commander in chief, this would not have happened.' But our founding fathers wanted us to have a civil commander in chief."

"The knowledge of military is only one aspect of it," said Cuomo. "Fred, just to be clear, Mattis, Kelly, both guys I'm sure you respect, and Spencer, someone who is deserving of respect by both sides of the aisle before this, have all made the same kind of comment about the president, that he's ethically challenged, that he doesn't know how to lead. And these are people that we often refer to as the best leaders of our society. Doesn't that concern you on any level?"

"I watched Admiral Kirby in the previous hour saying there was obviously prosecutorial abuse in this case," said Fleitz. "There was a lot going on in this case that went wrong. I think it was fairly complicated. But this is an instance of a civilian commander in chief making a decision, bucking the military bureaucracy, they tried to get around what he wanted do."

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