Former supreme allied commander sounds the alarm on Trump's efforts to sabotage Biden
President-elect Joe Biden has accused President Donald Trump and his loyalists of obstructing the new administration's incoming national security team. When retired Adm. James G. Stavridis — former supreme allied commander of NATO — appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Wednesday morning, he made it clear that he shares Biden's concerns and warned that there could be "real-world consequences" if the president-elect's team isn't adequately prepared from a national security standpoint.
Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire and "Way Too Early" host Kacie Hunt were filling in for the usual "Morning Joe" hosts, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, during the December 30 broadcast. And when Lemire asked Stavridis if he agreed that the Trump Administration's "stonewalling" of Biden could be "dangerous" and "taken advantage of and exploited by our adversaries," the retired U.S. Navy admiral responded, "The right word, Jonathan, is dangerous…. There are tactical problems, operational problems and strategic problems."
The 65-year-old Stavridis, who served as supreme allied commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization from 2009-2013, cited North Korea, China and Iran as three major foreign policy concerns for the incoming Biden Administration. And he warned that the last thing the U.S. needs after Biden is sworn in as president on January 20, 2021 is for his national security team to be "blinded."
"At the strategic level," Stavridis explained, "the incoming team needs to understand — at least a snapshot of — what the outgoing team is thinking about and how they're connecting the dots on how we face China, for example, in the South China sea…. So, there are real-world consequences here. And I absolutely call on the Pentagon officials who are indeed Trump loyalists — who walked in the door less than a month ago at the very senior levels, including the acting secretary of defense — let's do the right thing here for the nation."
Watch the clip below: