Leading Republican presidential contender Donald Trump was never too keen on Biden’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to begin with, but on Monday the former president unleashed in response to the growing scandal over Austin’s ‘secretive’ hospital stay, after having failed to disclose to the White House that he had been incapacitated for four days last week.
“Failed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin should be fired immediately for improper professional conduct and dereliction of duty,” Trump stated in a Truth Social post on Monday. “He has been missing for one week, and nobody, including his boss, Crooked Joe Biden, had a clue as to where he was, or might be.”
The 70-year old Pentagon chief and career Army general had experienced complications from a routine surgery and was hospitalized since Jan.1; however, the White House didn’t know of his absence from the top Pentagon post until Friday, which has sparked scandal over transparency in the Biden administration. The White House-appointed civilian head of the military was persona non grata and the Commander-in-Chief didn’t so much as know about it at a moment Washington is increasingly embroiled in major conflicts from Ukraine to Israel-Gaza to the Red Sea.
Austin acknowledged in a statement, “I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed”—while claiming that he had been working from his hospital bed since Friday.
Politico has interviewed a number of top officials embroiled in the scandal and has concluded that “It’s also caused a major embarrassment for an administration that prides itself on professionalism, communication and teamwork — especially as it contrasts itself to the chaos of Donald Trump’s presidency.”
The situation, and questions that remain, has gotten to the level of officials openly questioning whether Austin will remain in the job. One former high-ranking officer was quoted in Politico as saying:
“At a time when the administration is trying to keep the Ukraine coalition together, pass supplemental funding for Ukraine and Israel, avoid a full-year [continuing resolution] for defense — why would the secretary’s office create such a blunder?” said Arnold Punaro, a retired Marine Corps major general and former staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Biden is the Biggest Dereliction !!!!!