Trump targeted the general following recent reports that Milley looked to prevent Trump from staging a coup after losing the 2020 election. Trump said he had "lost total confidence" in Milley during his presidency, claiming Milley "choked like a dog" under scrutiny.
Austin’s backing: “I’ve known the chairman for a long time. We’ve fought together, we’ve served a couple of times in the same unit, so I’m not guessing at his character. He doesn’t have a political bone in his body,” Austin told reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday.
“I clearly have tremendous faith and confidence in the chairman,” he added.
Earlier criticisms: Conservatives have heavily criticized Milley in the past several weeks for newly revealed encounters during the Trump administration that were written about in several recently released books.
An excerpt from the book "I Alone Can Fix It," by Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, said Milley was so concerned Trump might try to stay in power through a coup in the last days of his presidency that he discussed it with his deputies.
The authors wrote that Milley saw Trump as "the classic authoritarian leader with nothing to lose,” and “told his staff that he believed Trump was stoking unrest, possibly in hopes of an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act and call out the military.”
Following that revelation, Fox News host Tucker Carlson called for Milley to be fired and Trump said he should be court-martialed if the statements were true.
No comment: On Wednesday, Milley declined to comment on the books' claims and said he always “provided the best military professional advice” to Trump, noting that it was “candid, honest, every single occasion.”
“I know there’s a lot of interest out there on all of these books that are out there quoting me. ... I’m not going to comment on what’s in any of those books,” Milley said alongside Austin.
An oath: Pressed on whether he was worried by the perception he used his role for political reasons, he would only say that he and other military leaders took an oath to uphold the Constitution “and not one time do we violate that.”
“I want America to know that the United States military is an apolitical institution. We were then and we are now. Our oath is to the Constitution, not to any individual at all,” Milley said.
“The military did not and will not and should not ever get involved in domestic politics. We don’t arbitrate elections. That's the job of the judiciary and the legislature and the American people. It's not the job of the U.S. military," he added.
Also during the briefing: Austin on Wednesday dismissed efforts to “distract” from the military’s diversity and inclusion efforts with discussions about critical race theory.
“I don't want us to get distracted with a critical race conversation,” Austin said.
“This department will be diverse. It will be inclusive. And we're going to look like the country that we support and defend. And, our leadership will look like what's in the ranks of our military. And so, I'm committed to that. This department is committed to that. The chairman’s committed to that,” Austin added, referring to Milley.
“And that's what we're going to stay focused on. And so, we're not going to spend too much time debating the merits of this theory or any other theory. We're going to stay focused on making sure that we create the right force to defend this country and promote our values.”
What prompted the answer: Austin was responding to a question asking him to elaborate on comments he made at a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing where Republicans sought to corner him and Milley over the issue of critical race theory.
Critical race theory, espoused in the 1970s, broadly focuses on the ways that racism has played a part in the development of U.S. policies and institutions.
Though the philosophy is largely confined to graduate school-level courses, Republicans have brought the theory to the forefront of national debate, with some GOP-led state legislatures banning it from being taught in K-12 schools.
The GOP have also increasingly sought to pull the military into the debate, including questioning Austin and Milley about critical race theory at the June House hearing.
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