12/31/2019

MILITARY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “A year ago, Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher was wearing a Navy uniform at a brig near San Diego, facing murder charges that could have sent him to prison for the rest of his life. Now he is modeling his own lifestyle clothing brand, endorsing nutrition supplements and positioning himself as a conservative influencer with close ties to the man who helped clear him — President Trump. Chief Gallagher was acquitted this summer of charges that he shot at civilians and killed a wounded captive with a knife while serving as a platoon leader in Iraq. The demotion he received after his lone conviction — posing for a grisly trophy photo with the dead captive’s body — was reversed this fall by President Trump, who has repeatedly praised him. At a political rally in Florida, he called him ‘one of the ultimate fighters.’”

-Dave Philipps, “From the Brig to Mar-a-Lago, Former Navy SEAL Capitalizes on Newfound Fame,” The New York Times online, December 31, 2019