Washington, Jun 12: Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has apologized for his role in US President Donald Trump’s church photo opportunity outside a church near the White House last week, saying he shouldn’t have been at the scene.
“As many of you saw, the result of the photograph of me at Lafayette Square last week, that sparked a national debate about the role of the military in civil society.
I should not have been there. My presence in that moment, and in that environment, created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics,” Milley said on Thursday in a recorded message for a commencement ceremony at the National Defense University in Washington, NBC news reported.
“As a commissioned, uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it,” he added.
Last week, Milley was photographed in uniform walking with Trump to St John’s Episcopal Church, which had been damaged by a fire, amid nationwide demonstrations against George Floyd’s death in police custody.
After federal law enforcement and National Guardsmen cleared protesters from the area, Trump stood in front of the church, holding up a Bible, and had several photos taken before returning to the White House.
Besides Milley, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Attorney General William Barr, and a group of White House officials accompanied Trump to the church.
The episode drew criticism from a number of former military officials, including James Mattis, the Trump administration’s first secretary of defense, who called it ”a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.”
In response, Trump has lashed out at Mattis, calling him the ”world’s most overrated general” and suggesting he was ineffective at his job.
(UNI)
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