Donald Trump Jr. isn't an expert on war or international relations.
But in a statement posted Friday afternoon that served to denigrate his progressive opponents, he claimed that the United States military failed to predict the Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan because its generals were "too busy" learning about critical race theory and gender identity.
Responding to commentator Bill Roggio's assessment that the U.S. military is "directly responsible for the biggest intelligence failure" since the Vietnam War, Trump Jr. wrote:
"I can only assume that General [Mark] Milley was too busy reading the latest CRT literature and learning about the 97 genders along with their requisite pronouns to pay much attention to such trivial matters."
I can only assume that General Milley was too busy reading the latest CRT literature and learning about the 97 genders along with their requisite pronouns to pay much attention to such trivial matters.https://twitter.com/billroggio/status/1425954063036960769\u00a0\u2026— Donald Trump Jr. (@Donald Trump Jr.) 1628861438
Trump Jr.'s statement referenced a remark made in June by General Mark Milley, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In June, Milley said he didn't believe that the Taliban would force Americans to evacuate their embassy in Kabul like when the North Vietnamese took Saigon in 1975:
""I may be wrong, who knows, you can't predict the future, but I don't see Saigon 1975 in Afghanistan."
"The Taliban just aren't the North Vietnamese Army. It's not that kind of situation."
Trump Jr.'s statements quickly garnered criticism on social media. Many pointed out his lack of military experience.
Please Junior, tell us how to be a great general. You seem to have all the knowledge and experience.— tails of brave ulysses (@tails of brave ulysses) 1628861506
Enough is enough 20 years! What junior would you like to enlist and do 20 more? Unless you are willing to put your life on the line than you can speak.— Ms.M (@Ms.M) 1628862867
And what have you done to serve your country? Hmmmm— Kathleen Krzynowek (@Kathleen Krzynowek) 1628861827
Because you with your vast military experience know so much more— Phobo Joel \ud83d\udcf7 #BLM AntiFa Resist (@Phobo Joel \ud83d\udcf7 #BLM AntiFa Resist) 1628864205
And your experience in the military is???\nRemember the terms of withdrawal came under that other military "genius" in your family ("I know more than my generals") TFG owns this too!— foxfan (@foxfan) 1628861997
At least one person pointed out that Trump Jr.'s father, former President Donald Trump, was in charge of the armed forces at the time that plans to withdraw from Afghanistan were decided.
Your father negotiated the withdrawal When he wanted to leave it was \u201camerica first\u201d but now with Biden it\u2019s \u201csurrender\u201d— MrValentine375 (@MrValentine375) 1628862172
Wasn\u2019t this part of daddy\u2019s plan? He did say that he would withdraw US troops from all these \u2018endless wars\u2019, correct? This fallout is partially on daddy!— Steven Kelly (@Steven Kelly) 1628867664
It's true: Former President Trump's administration had proposed leaving Afghanistan by January 15, 2021.
Trump was also largely supportive of an Afghanistan withdrawal.
In April, he put himself at odds with other Republicans when he suggested that American troops should leave Afghanistan ahead of President Joe Biden's proposed deadline of September 11.
So why did Trump Jr. bother to comment, if General Milley's statement on the future of the U.S. embassy had nothing to do with critical race theory or gender pronouns?
The answer is a simple one.
In June, Milley responded to accusations from Republican members of Congress that the military is indoctrinating troops by teaching critical race theory, a body of legal and academic scholarship that aims to examine how racism and disparate racial outcomes have shaped public policy via often implicit social and institutional dynamics.
At the time, Miller noted that critical race theory is taught at West Point because it's a college. He further bristled at the use of the word "woke" to disparage the success of military troops:
"And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned, non-commissioned officers of being, quote, 'woke' or something else, because we're studying some theories that are out there."
Strong reaction from Joint Chiefs Chairman Milley on the issue of critical race theory before House Armed Services. \n\n"I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our noncommisioned officers of being quote 'woke'"pic.twitter.com/otWBw3YdPK— Dave Brown (@Dave Brown) 1624467715
And there you have it. It's safe to say Milley's statements were misconstrued in an attempt to take a weak jab at Black and transgender people.
Better luck next time, Trump Jr.
