Leon Panetta: “He [Trump] cannot just say whatever the hell he wants and expect it doesn’t carry consequences” t.co/m7r3kN2X81
Leon Panetta, the former CIA Director and Defense Secretary under President Barack Obama, told CNN Tuesday morning that he thinks President Donald Trump should stop tweeting. “He cannot just say whatever the hell he wants and expect that it doesn’t carry consequences.
“The first thing I would do as chief of staff is take away those tweets from the President of the United States, because you cannot control what goes on in this country if you’re a President who is simply tweeting whatever he thinks,” Panetta told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
Cuomo played devil’s advocate, asking Panetta what if Trump told you that his direct line to the American people was one of the reasons he became President and he would ignore your advice. Panetta would counter by telling Trump that he’s not just another “TV personality,” but he’s Commander in Chief and what he says has consequences.
“What bothers me here is that the president of the United States, an office that I respect throughout my life, I just think this president has to understand that he cannot just say whatever the hell he wants and expect that it doesn’t carry consequences,” Panetta told CNN.
Leon Panetta on Trump doubling down on sharing info with Russia: “It undermines the credibility” of the presidency t.co/5uH4SpsJW9
“You have a responsibility, when you speak to speak clearly with authority and speak in a way that doesn’t hurt this country’s national security,” Panetta said. Panetta also said that the president needs to have people around him who can tell him he’s wrong. “You have to be able to discipline yourself, Mr. President,” Panetta told CNN.
Panetta’s comments followed The Washington Post’s report on Monday that Trump shared highly classified information with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during an Oval Office meeting on May 10.
Although Trump’s administration denied some of the reporting by the Post, Trump defended his “absolute right” to share information with Russia in a series of tweets.
“As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety,” Trump wrote. “Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.”
Panetta served as Obama’s Secretary of Defense from 2011 to 2013 and his CIA director from 2009 to 2011. He also worked as White House Chief of Staff during President Bill Clinton’s second term. He has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s, recently telling NPR that Trump “undermined credibility” in the investigation of the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia during the presidential campaign by firing FBI director James Comey.
“I think the bigger questions here are the credibility of what’s involved because the fact is by virtue of doing that, that firing has undermined credibility in a very vital national security investigation,” Panetta told NPR.
