'He's President Chaos': Veterans advocate delivers scathing rebuke of Trump's military leadership

Veterans advocate Paul Rieckhoff told CNN's Kate Bolduan on Monday that President Donald Trump is failing badly in the way he's leading America's armed forces.

While discussing the president's intervention into a Navy review of SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who was accused by his fellow soldiers of committing war crimes, Rieckhoff argued that Trump's actions were symbolic for how he's harmed the military with "chaotic" orders that undermine discipline.

"He's president chaos," said Rieckhoff, the founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "Now it's flowing over into the Pentagon. And frankly, this is not new: He's been at war with the Pentagon on a number of issues. If you go back to the trans ban, to the Kurds, to Mattis, now this. Trump is at odds with his own military."

Rieckhoff then explained how this kind of leadership is hurting the military.

"The bottom line is, if you're in uniform right now, you see chaos at the top, you see leadership that's not on the same page, and a senior leader saying that the president gave him an unlawful order and he's not going to follow it, and that guy is out."

Rieckhoff went on to explain that the military is at its most effective when it is lawful -- and that's difficult to maintain when the president is pardoning war criminals.

Watch the video below.