Two Republican Governors Slam Trump’s Use of National Guard Troops
Two Republican governors have broken with the Trump administration, condemning the president’s decision to unleash the National Guard in American cities.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott called the move “unnecessary” and “unconstitutional” that only “further divides and threatens people.”
“We need stability right now in this country, we don’t need more unrest. … I don’t think our guard should be used against our own people. I don’t think the military should be used against our own people. In fact, it’s unconstitutional,” he said. said VTDigger Thursday. “Unless, of course, there is an insurrection, much like the one we experienced on January 6 a few years ago.”
Scott also said he would reject a request to deploy the Vermont National Guard elsewhere, and that Trump calling for the jailing of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was “wrong on many different levels.”
Scott did not support Trump in 2016 and called for his impeachment following the January 6 insurrection.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has been much more supportive of Trump than Scott in the past, attending rallies and receiving support from him since 2018. Even he thinks it’s a bit much.
“We believe in the federalist system: it’s states’ rights,” he said. said The New York Times THURSDAY. “Oklahomans would lose their minds if Illinois’ Pritzker sent troops to Oklahoma under the Biden administration.”
“I was surprised that Governor Abbott sent troops from Texas to Illinois,” Stitt continued. “Abbott and I went after the Biden administration when the shoe was on the other foot and the Biden administration was trying to force us to vaccinate all of our troops and mandate mask-wearing across the country. … As a Federalist believer, one governor against another governor, I don’t think that’s the right way to approach this issue.”
Stitt, who made the comments shortly before Scott, indicated he was not the only Republican governor to disapprove of Trump sending troops from other states onto the streets of Chicago, Portland and Washington, DC.
“Maybe you just didn’t ask the right questions,” he said. Only time will tell.
