"Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — high-ranking military officials who advise the president — appeared to distance themselves from President Trump by publicly condemning racism in the aftermath of Trump's comments about the attack in Charlottesville.
Trump has blamed "both sides" for the violence.
Five of the country's top uniformed leaders — of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and National Guard — have all sent tweets critical of "racism," "hatred" and "extremism," after a man who reportedly expressed admiration for Nazism allegedly drove a car into a crowd of people protesting against white supremacy Saturday. One woman, Heather Heyer, was killed, and 19 other people were injured.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joe Dunford, said on Thursday that he hadn't commented yet because he left over the weekend for a trip to South Korea, Japan, and China.
"I can absolutely and unambiguously tell you there is no place — no place — for racism and bigotry in the U.S. military or in the United States as a whole," Dunford told reporters in Beijing Thursday.
As for his colleagues who lead America's military, Dunford said, "They were speaking directly to the force and to the American people: to the force to make clear that that kind of racism and bigotry is not going to stand inside the force. And to the American people, to remind them of the values for which we stand in the U.S. military, which are reflective of the values of the United States."
Since it was officially integrated in 1948, the U.S. military has often been perceived as being more advanced than the rest of American society when it comes to racial inclusion."
Joint Chiefs Denounce Racism After Trump's Comments : The Two-Way : NPR
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