Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Army General Mark A. Milley, answers a question at a virtual town hall at the Pentagon, May 28, 2020.
Chad J. McNeeley | Department of Defense
WASHINGTON – In an extraordinary letter Tuesday, the nation’s top military commanders condemned last week’s acts of “sedition and insurgency” in the Capitol, while acknowledging Joe Biden’s election victory.
The report did not mention President Donald Trump by name, but joint chiefs of staff, led by U.S. Army General Mark Milley, made it clear that the military plans to support the constitutional transfer of power to the next administration.
“ As we have done in our history, the United States military will obey the lawful order of civilian leaders, support civil authorities to protect lives and property, ensure public safety in accordance with the law, and be fully committed to protecting and defending of the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, ”wrote the country’s top military officers.
As service members, we must embody the values and ideals of the nation. We support and defend the constitution. Any act that disrupts the constitutional process is not only contrary to our traditions, values and oaths; it is also against the law. the heads wrote.
The report comes a week after thousands of the president’s supporters stormed the Capitol, resulting in five deaths, including a Capitol Police officer. The pandemonium derailed congressional procedures to count voters’ votes and confirm Biden’s victory in the Nov. 3 election.
Biden’s victory was projected by all major news outlets in mid-November and confirmed by votes from the Electoral College in mid-December. The Republican president has falsely insisted that he win in a “landslide”, claiming unfounded that his re-election was stolen by massive electoral fraud.
When protesters besieged the Capitol on Wednesday, Trump told supporters in a tweeted video, “You have to go home now.” The president stopped condemning the violence and told the crowd, “we love you, you are very special.”
US President Donald Trump watches the presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Celtic basketball legend Bob Cousy at the White House Oval Office in Washington, DC on August 22, 2019.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
In a nearly three-minute video posted Thursday, the president called for national “healing and reconciliation”.
“To those guilty of acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country. And to those who break the law you will pay,” Trump said in his first address to the country after the violence that shook Washington. .
“Now things need to be cooled and peace restored. We need to get on with America’s business,” Trump added.
The president also acknowledged that “a new government will be inaugurated on January 20”.
A day later, he said he would skip President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.