Michael Flynn, the retired Army lieutenant general who was once a prospective running mate for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, blasted a fellow former military officer on Fox News Thursday night for backing Hillary Clinton.
John Allen, a former Marine general, addressed the Democratic convention in Philadelphia the same evening that Mrs. Clinton accepted the party’s nomination for the presidency, which drew the ire of Mr. Flynn.
“I honestly don’t know how John Allen can look at himself in the mirror and say why he supports Hillary Clinton,” Mr. Flynn told Fox’s Megyn Kelly.
Mr. Flynn, who used to lead the Defense Intelligence Agency under the Obama administration, is now a vocal critic of the president’s strategy to combat the Islamic State — a strategy Mr. Allen helped craft as the special envoy of a coalition assembled to the eradicate the terrorist group, Fox News reported Friday.
“General Allen as a retired officer was in charge of our current strategy for well over a year … and during that period of time the rise of radical Islamism and [the Islamic State], you know, it exponentially grew,” Mr. Flynn said. “The strategy that John Allen was in charge of … it’s a failed strategy.”
Mr. Allen resigned in September from the position amid reports of discord with White House and Defense officials about the best strategy to combat the Islamic State, the Marine Corps Times reported Monday.
Mr. Flynn addressed the Republican convention on its first night, which bore the theme “Make America Safe Again.”
A longtime registered Democrat, Mr. Flynn’s socially-liberal views raised eyebrows among many of the GOP faithful earlier this month prior to Mr. Trump announcing Gov. Mike Pence, a pro-life evangelical Christian, as his running mate.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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