Ret. Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman, whose testimony about then-President Donald Trump‘s pressing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for dirt on Hunter Biden led to Trump’s first impeachment, hit back against JD Vance‘s claim that Trump wouldn’t exact vengeance on his political opponents in a second term.
[NOTE: Vindman also served as Director for European Affairs for the United States National Security Council (NSC).]
The GOP Vice Presidential nominee was questioned by ABC’s Martha Raddatz about Trump’s repeated promises to go after his political opponents if he regains the presidency.
When Vance denied that retribution was part of Trump’s plan, suggesting that Trump hadn’t practiced such vengeance in his first term, Vindman lashed out, saying that he was a victim of Trump’s “campaign of harassment & retaliation.”
Refuting Vance, Vindman used the famous accusation — “You lie!” — that South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson shouted at then-President Barack Obama during his 2009 State of the Union address, smashing bipartisan protocol in a manner that for many foreshadowed the arrival of the MAGA movement.
You lie. Donald Trump politicized & block my promotion to Colonel. Trump’s campaign of harassment & retaliation ended my military career. Now Trump wants to implement Project 2025 to politicize military & civil service. And fire 50-60k career nonpartisan public servant to replace… https://t.co/HabUBmkNoG
— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) October 13, 2024
Raddatz’s question about Trump’s promises of political retribution considered two different levels of opponents — not just the direct kind of vengeance that Vindman, said he experienced. The question also referred to the controversial Trump 2.0 transition plan, Project 2025, which proposes replacing tens of thousands of nonpartisan government workers with GOP/MAGA loyalists.
Vindman also considered this aspect of Trump’s purported vengeance plan in his reply, writing that Trump wants to “politicize military & civil service. And fire 50-60k career nonpartisan public servants to replace them with Trump loyalists.”
Vance’s answer claimed Trump did not go after his political opponents during his first term and suggested, instead, without evidence, that the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, has targeted political rivals.
Raddatz’s question echoed concerns voiced by numerous national security officials from both parties — recently the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump and Biden, Gen. Mark Milley, said Trump was “fascist to the core” and expressed a belief that he could be court-martialed during a second Trump administration.
A recent Observer article — entitled Trump’s threats to ‘go after’ opponents will subvert rule of law, experts warn — quotes former justice department inspector general Michael Bromwich voicing similar concerns: “Trump’s escalating threats to pervert the criminal justice system need to be taken seriously. We have never had a presidential candidate state as one of his central goals mobilizing the levers of justice to punish enemies and reward friends. No one has ever been brazen enough to campaign on an agenda of retribution and retaliation.”