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Former President Barack Obama suggested on Monday that there was a “resistance” in the military preventing its “politicization” by the Trump administration.
Obama visited the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas as the inaugural speaker in the museum’s new lecture series “Building Bridges.”
During the hour-long event, he remarked that there have been “pretty big breakdowns” of major institutions and claimed that the military is being used in “partisan politics,” arguing that resistance within the ranks has helped hinder its complete politicization.
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“I would not expect the politicization of the Justice Department or our military,” Obama said. “And I don’t think that’s happened. I think there’s been resistance, particularly in the military, to that, but the degree to which that has been encouraged, you know, that used to be something that I would lecture other countries not to do.”
He continued, “You don’t have your military involved in partisan politics. Its loyalty is to the Constitution. Its loyalty is not to any party, and it is not to any president.”
Obama contrasted the situation with his own administration, saying that he earned military respect by not playing politics. He said he entered office in 2009 as someone who had “never served,” assuming he had not won the “Pentagon vote” after besting war hero and former prisoner of war John McCain.
“When I was sworn into office and I boarded Marine One or Air Force One, they saluted, and if I said this is what we need to do, they said, ‘Yes, sir.’ And when I’m sitting with my Joint Chiefs of Staff, they are giving me their best unvarnished advice, and over time, I didn’t just win them following orders, they would say, because they’ve written about it. I won their respect because they never saw me make a decision about national security that in any way was affected by me worrying about my politics,” Obama said.
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Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called out Obama’s comments in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying he “remained silent” over the Biden administration allegedly targeting conservatives in the military.
“Previous administrations also injected politics into our military with DEI, climate change worship, and drag queen performances. Secretary Hegseth is dismantling these woke distractions and restoring meritocracy across the services, so our war fighters can do their jobs,” he said.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., made similar comments last week after suggesting that members of the military were privately acting as a “check” on President Donald Trump’s orders.
“What gives me hope, and I talk to service members all the time,” Swalwell said. “They tell me that I don’t appreciate enough, and the public doesn’t appreciate enough that while Congress is not a check on the president anymore, and the judiciary at the Supreme Court is hardly a check, military members have told me, ‘We can be a check.'”
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He continued, “They’re essentially saying, ‘We’re not going to betray our oath to the Constitution because this guy tells us to.’ While it’s not codified that way — they’re not a branch of government on their own— their honor and integrity might just save us.”
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The comments came after six Democratic lawmakers came under controversy for urging service members to reject “illegal” orders from Trump in a recently released video.
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