NBC’s chief White House correspondent, Chuck Todd, said Wednesday the Obama administration’s aides are accusing Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s fellow platoon members and other veterans of giving the the former captive the “swift boat” treatment.
When asked by “Today” host Matt Lauer if the White House truly thought that swapping five senior Taliban commanders for Sgt. Bergdahl would be “a celebratory moment,” Mr. Todd revealed what aides had told him off-camera.
“They did not expect this backlash on Bergdahl himself. I’ve had a few aides describe it to me as ’we didn’t know that they were going to swift boat Bergdahl’ — and Matt, of course, that’s a reference to that political fight back in 2004 over John Kerry’s military service which became so controversial in that campaign. So there’s some fighting words there,” Mr. Todd said.
Mr. Lauer questioned the administration’s lack of foresight in light of an investigation that concluded that Sgt. Bergdahl most likely walked away from his unit. Mr. Lauer also cited a 2012 Rolling Stone profile of Sgt. Bergdahl, which revealed emails he sent to his parents that were critical of the U.S. and its military.
Mr. Todd replied that the White House was likely oblivious to possible negative reactions from the military because there were “so many Republicans on Capitol Hill who were urging the Defense Department to do whatever it took to get Sergeant Bergdahl.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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