Trump Goes After Retired Admiral Critical Of Him For Not Taking Out Bin Laden Sooner

During an extensive interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, President Donald Trump was predictably all over the place, justifying his anti-media rhetoric, blaming his decision not to go to a World War I cemetery on the Secret Service, and personally giving himself an A+ as president.

He also dismissed the retired admiral and Navy SEAL behind the Osama bin Laden raid as a “Hillary Clinton fan” while criticizing him for not taking out the al-Qaeda leader and 9/11 mastermind sooner.

While discussing the president’s media attacks and how authoritarian leaders are now parroting them, Wallace brought up criticism the president has received from Ret. Admiral William McRaven, the commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014 who oversaw the 2011 Pakistan raid that killed bin Laden. After Trump revoked the security clearances of former CIA Director John Brennan for speaking out against the White House, McRaven said “I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well.”

In typical Trumpian fashion, the president took personal potshots at McRaven while denigrating his career, including the raid itself, basing it all around the admiral’s supposed political leanings.

“Hillary Clinton fan,” Trump huffed as Wallace listed McRaven’s credentials. “Excuse me! Hillary. Clinton. Fan.”

“Who led the operations — commanded the operations that took down Saddam Hussein and killed Osama bin Laden said that your sentiment is the greatest threat to democracy in his lifetime,” the Fox News anchor stated.

“He’s a Hillary Clinton backer and an Obama backer,” the president shot back, causing Wallace to defend McRaven and note that he’s a Navy SEAL.

(Wallace would later point out in the broadcast that McRaven never publicly backed Clinton during the 2016 election.)

“Frankly, wouldn’t it have been nicer if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that?” Trump lashed out. “Wouldn’t that have been nice? Living in Pakistan, beautifully in Pakistan and what I guess was considered a nice mansion. I dunno, I’ve seen nicer.”

While Trump went on to highlight the amount of money the United States gives Pakistan and wondering aloud why the country didn’t tell America where bin Laden was, an incredulous Wallace asked the president if he couldn’t even give credit to them for killing the terrorist leader.

“They took him down — but, look, look — there’s news right there,” he declared. “He lived in Pakistan. We are supporting Pakistan. We are giving a $1.3 billion a year, which we don’t do anymore, I ended it. I’m totally in favor of the media, I’m in favor of free press.”

This then pivoted into another discussion of the “fake media,” with Trump immediately telling Wallace that he “can tell you what’s fair and what’s not — and so can my people.”

Watch the clip above, via Fox News.