President Donald Trump's controversial speech at Fort Bragg in North Carolina in which he led the audience in boos against his perceived political enemies turns out to have been tightly choreographed, reported Military.com, with officials screening out soldiers who don't agree with Trump's agenda — and even soldiers who were overweight.
"Internal 82nd Airborne Division communications reviewed by Military.com reveal a tightly orchestrated effort to curate the optics of Trump's recent visit, including handpicking soldiers for the audience based on political leanings and physical appearance," said the report.
For example, one message sent to units said, "No fat soldiers," while another said, "If soldiers have political views that are in opposition to the current administration and they don't want to be in the audience then they need to speak with their leadership and get swapped out."
A commander who wished to remain anonymous told Military.com, "This has been a bad week for the Army for anyone who cares about us being a neutral institution. This was shameful. I don't expect anything to come out of it, but I hope maybe we can learn from it long term."
During the speech, Trump raged against California, where he has currently deployed the National Guard and Marines to break up protests against mass deportation, and urged the soldiers in attendance to boo the protesters and the news media.
The speech triggered outrage over the perceived impropriety of using troops as political props, when televised partisan cheers by soldiers are against longstanding military rules.
