Trump takes heat after disparaging William McRaven for how long it took to get bin Laden

William Cummings | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump clashes with retired admiral who oversaw Bin Laden raid President Donald Trump went after retired four star Admiral William McRaven after he criticized Trump for undermining the media. Veuer's Sam Berman has the full story.

President Donald Trump – who has shown he is willing to go after anyone, from the pope to Meryl Streep, if he feels he is under attack – is now under fire for dismissing an American military hero as a partisan hack and disparaging the U.S. effort to hunt down Osama bin Laden.

It all started when Trump was asked during a Fox News interview taped Friday about retired Navy Adm. William McRaven's assertion that the president's attacks on the news media constitute "the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime." The president dismissed McRaven's concerns on the grounds that he was a "Hillary fan" and an "Obama backer," referring to his 2016 opponent and his White House predecessor.

"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace mentioned that the former Navy SEAL led the operation that killed Osama bin Laden. Trump went into a discussion about how the al-Qaida leader should have been found much sooner.

"Wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that, wouldn’t it have been nice?" Trump said.

His remarks prompted swift condemnation and refutation from across the American military and intelligence communities.

McRaven repeats: Trump's media attacks 'greatest threat to our democracy'

"The mission to get bin Laden was bipartisan. We all wanted to get him as soon as we could," Robert O'Neil, the Navy SEAL who is believed to have fired the shot that killed bin Laden, said in a tweet Monday.

O'Neil said McRaven has been "born to lead" the mission that killed bin Laden. "I'll follow him anywhere," he said.

The mission to get bin Laden was bipartisan. We all wanted to get him as soon as we could. — Robert J. O'Neill (@mchooyah) November 19, 2018

"This is disgusting!" tweeted Frances Townsend, who worked as a counterterrorism adviser for President George W. Bush. She said McRaven is "among the finest officers I have had the privilege to work with."

Adm Bill McRaven is a friend & former @WhiteHouse colleague, he is among the finest officers I have had the privilege to work with! This is disgusting! @POTUS @realDonaldTrump suggests venerated Navy SEAL commander should have found bin Laden faster https://t.co/hZf4pR6ONZ — Frances Townsend (@FranTownsend) November 19, 2018

Leon Panetta, who was CIA director when bin Laden was killed in the 2011 operation and later served as secretary of defense under President Barack Obama, said Trump owed an apology to McRaven "and all of the special operation forces and intelligence professionals who planned and executed one of the most important counter-terrorism missions in our nation's history."

Panetta explained in a statement that the CIA led the search that eventually found bin Laden at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. McRaven was not involved until Obama ordered him to plan the mission to take down bin Laden, who was dead within 100 days.

Panetta called Trump's criticism "patently ridiculous" and said it "demonstrates a profound lack of understanding of how our military and intelligence agencies operate and undermines the president’s own standing as commander-in-chief."

Similarly, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Trump's comment is "really a slam at the intelligence community" and "reflects, I think, his complete ignorance" about what was involved in hunting down bin Laden.

"It took patience and perseverance over a period of years from the intelligence community. Principally, the Central Intelligence Agency," Clapper said on CNN. He said Trump's remarks were "more of an indictment against the intelligence committee, though he may not have realized it, rather than Bill McRaven."

McRaven denied Trump's allegations of political bias in a statement to CNN on Sunday but did not address Trump's criticism of the U.S. military and intelligence communities' efforts to track down the terrorist mastermind.

"I did not back Hillary Clinton or anyone else," McRaven said. "I am a fan of President Obama and President George W. Bush, both of whom I worked for. I admire all presidents, regardless of their political party, who uphold the dignity of the office and who use that office to bring the Nation together in challenging times."

"I don’t know if Adm. William McRaven shares my political views or not," Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said on Twitter. "But I do know that few Americans have sacrificed or risked more than he has to protect America & the freedoms we enjoy."

I don’t know if Adm. William McRaven shares my political views or not.



But I do know that few Americans have sacrificed or risked more than he has to protect America & the freedoms we enjoy.



His military career exemplified honor & excellence.



I am grateful for his service. — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 19, 2018

The Republican National Committee implied McRaven wasn't telling the whole story in a tweet Monday that echoed the president's claim that the ex-SEAL has a political ax to grind.

"Worth noting after recent comments: Retired Adm. William McRaven was reportedly on Hillary Clinton's short list for Vice President in 2016," the RNC said in a tweet from its official account. "He's been critical of @realDonaldTrump – even dating back to the 2016 campaign."

"He's hardly a non-political figure," the tweet said.

Worth noting after recent comments: Retired Adm. William McRaven was reportedly on Hillary Clinton’s short list for Vice President in 2016.



He’s been critical of President @realDonaldTrump— even dating back to the 2016 campaign.



He’s hardly a non-political figure. — GOP (@GOP) November 19, 2018

McRaven's name did appear on a list of 39 potential running mates in a hacked email from Clinton's campaign manager that was published by Wikileaks in 2016. And in 2012, he once introduced then-Secretary of State Clinton at an event as "without a doubt one of the finest public servants ever to serve this great nation."

But he never endorsed any candidate in the 2016 election.

The RNC was correct that he has been a sharp critic of Trump. He first said the president's attacks on the press were a threat to democracy in February 2017. The former U.S. Special Operations commander also slammed the president in a scathing letter published in The Washington Post in August for revoking former CIA director John Brennan's security clearance.

But Post columnist Karen Tumulty pointed out in a reply to the RNC tweet that it was also "worth noting" that McRaven was "on Trump’s short list for national security adviser."

Worth noting: retired Adm. William McRaven was on Trump’s short list for national security adviser. https://t.co/ls4ejz54ip — Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) November 19, 2018

The blowback against Trump's dismissal of McRaven and his criticism of the effort to find bin Laden comes as he already is under fire from opponents for not showing enough respect to U.S. service members.

Trump – who never served in the military and got five draft deferments during the Vietnam War – has faced such accusations at least as far back as 2015 when he said he did not consider the late Sen. John McCain a war hero because he "got captured."

The president recently was criticized for not attending a ceremony at a cemetery to honor fallen World War I soldiers during a trip to Paris and for not visiting Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day last week.

In his interview with Wallace, Trump said "in retrospect I should have" gone to Arlington, but he explained he was "extremely busy on calls for the country."

"We did a lot of calling," Trump said.

Trump has yet to visit American troops in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, although he told Fox News such a visit is "being planned." He did not give specifics for "security reasons."

In a report Monday, The Washington Post cited an unnamed former senior White House official who said Trump has "never been interested in going" to visit troops in a combat zone. "He’s afraid of those situations. He’s afraid people want to kill him," the official said.

And the president's deployment of 5,000 troops to the southern border has been derided as a political stunt meant to energize the Republican base ahead of the 2018 midterm election more than protect the nation from a caravan of Central American migrants fleeing their home countries.

The least noble among us, @realDonaldTrump, announces our 5000 troops serving as political props on our southern border will be home for Christmas. We continue to test new lows for this POTUS. He won’t visit troops in combat zones (still got those spurs). #NeverTrump — Major General (ret) Paul Eaton (@PaulDEaton52) November 19, 2018

Trump defended his record with the troops during his Fox News interview.

"I don’t think anybody’s been more with the military than I have, as a president in terms of funding, in terms of all of the things I’ve been able to get them, including the vets," Trump said.

Contributing: The Associated Press