Troops who attended an address by President Donald Trump at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on Tuesday were reportedly screened for their appearance and political views.
The address, held to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday week, included the president making partisan comments, soliciting cheers and jeers from the uninformed audience seated as a backdrop behind the commander-in-chief.
According to reporting by Military.com, messages obtained by the outlet showed handpicking of soldiers for both appearance and political leanings.
One message said simply, “no fat soldiers.”
Another message sought to minimize anyone who did not support the president politically.
“If soldiers have political views that are in opposition to the current administration and they don’t want to be in the audience then they need to speak with their leadership and get swapped out,” according to a unit message obtained by Military.com.
Trump attacked political rivals, including former President Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has been critical of Trump’s decision to deploy the Army National Guard and Marines to quell protests in Los Angeles against federal immigration raids.
Many of his comments received cheers and boos from soldiers in the audience, expressing political views while in uniform — which would often result in reprimand.
“This has been a bad week for the Army for anyone who cares about us being a neutral institution,” one commander at Fort Bragg told Military.com on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation. “This was shameful. I don’t expect anything to come out of it, but I hope maybe we can learn from it long term.”
Social media posts also showed soldiers purchasing clothing and items with pro-Trump and conservative messaging, such as “Make America Great Again.”
Items in some of the posts were sold by 365 Campaign, an Oklahoma-based business that sells pro-Trump and conservative memorabilia.
Col. Mary Ricks, a Fort Bragg spokesperson, told Military.com that “the vendor’s presence is under review to determine how it was permitted and to prevent similar occurrences in the future.”
Army Times reached out to Ricks on Thursday for further comment about the allegations of soldier screening. The spokesperson did not immediately respond.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
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