White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders hit back at a CNN report that claimed U.S. troops violated military rules and should be disciplined for allowing President Donald Trump to sign their personal MAGA hats during his surprise visit to Iraq because the hats are considered ‘campaign merchandise’.
From the Clown News Network:
Department of Defense guidelines say that “active duty personnel may not engage in partisan political activities and all military personnel should avoid the inference that their political activities imply or appear to imply DoD sponsorship, approval, or endorsement of a political candidate, campaign, or cause.”
The questions arose because the hats, emblazoned with the President’s signature political slogan, appeared to be brand new and because there are rules against military personnel participating in political activities while in uniform.
No policy violations have been brought to the military’s attention at this time, said Capt. Christopher Bowyer-Meeder, a spokesperson for the US Air Force, Europe. He added there is no rule against Airmen bringing personal items to be signed by the president.
The Defense Department guidelines have the same intent as mirror the Hatch Act restrictions on political activities for civilian federal officials. In the Trump Era, officials have deemed hashtags and hats potential rule violations. Earlier this year specific guidance notified federal employees that bringing MAGA hats to work or using the terms “#resist” or “resistance” in reference to President Trump could violate the Hatch Act.
CNN will attack anyone who supports President Trump, including the brave men and women of our military who fight everyday to protect our freedom https://t.co/x6VjuUJFdF
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) December 27, 2018
President @realDonaldTrump speaks to U.S. troops in Iraq. #TrumpTroopsVisit #USA pic.twitter.com/9CSdO8AwWD
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) December 26, 2018
Powerful moment – Member of United States Army told the President he came back into the military because of him. And President Trump responded, “And I am here because of you.” I met him after and he gave me the patch from his arm. Incredible. #TrumpTroopsVisit pic.twitter.com/WmQf3b2K8X
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) December 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/dbongino/status/1078086431350968325
Our nation’s hall monitor strikes again. https://t.co/LEhJiEerwh
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) December 27, 2018
For real though, crap like @CNN bashing troops for having #MAGA hats in their personal possessions is literally how we got Trump.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 27, 2018
So CNN is now labeling Trump as "the Grinch" who stole Christmas from the troops in Iraq.
This of course comes after they spent an entire day railing on Trump for not visiting troops during Christmastime (even though it turned out he had a scheduled trip to Iraq) pic.twitter.com/xWXnWSUyRC
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) December 27, 2018
Source: CNN
