
(PresidentialHill.com)- Following a tweet in which she expressed displeasure with the presence of Marine guards behind President Joe Biden while he was speaking, CNN anchor Brianna Keilar was met with an onslaught of criticism, including from within Biden’s own White House.
On Thursday evening, the President gave a speech titled “The Continued Battle for the Soul of the Nation.” The address was mainly a rebuke of former President Donald Trump and those who support the uprising that ended in the attack on the Capitol on January 6.
Nevertheless, while Keilar was listening to the address in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, she took issue with the visual of the Marines standing behind Biden.
Keilar expressed that no matter your opinion of the speech, the military is not meant to be involved in politics. It contradicts this principle to place Marines in dress uniform behind the President during a political address. It’s unethical behavior on the part of Democrats. It’s unacceptable behavior on the part of Republicans.
As one of the political, journalistic, and other individuals that pushed back on Keilar’s complaint because the speech was “not political,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates, who has a sharp-elbowed presence on Twitter, was one of those who pushed back.
As evidence, Bates cited what appeared to be objective news reports on CNN concerning the “GOP risks to democracy.”
Rob Flaherty, the Director of Digital Strategy at the White House, responded forcefully to an analogous criticism of Steve Portnoy by showing a picture of the Capitol being seized on January 6.
Others responded similarly, pointing out what they considered more egregious examples of Trump utilizing military members in such a manner, and some perceived the influence of the new CNN CEO, Chris Licht.
Parker Malloy tweeted a picture of Trump giving a speech flanked by Marines standing in the background.
Writer Brandon Friedman’s tweet came closest to illustrating what was wrong with Biden’s speech compared to all the other examples of apologists for Biden saying, “what about Trump?”
-When defending democracy in the face of anti-American fascism, you can use marines.
That is the difference. Biden’s speech was an “us against them” address, positioning the military in the background as a way of saying the might is with us, making us right.
Biden is the fascist. The tweeting loons have it entirely backward.