White House chief of staff John Kelly had some strong words Wednesday for the California high school teacher who was caught in a viral video calling U.S. troops “a bunch of dumb shits” and the “lowest of the low.”

“Well, I think the guy ought to go to hell. I just hope he enjoys the liberties and the lifestyle that we have fought for,” Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general who enlisted in 1970, told a Fox News radio show.

It was the latest in the public firestorm over the comments by Gregory Salcido, who is also a city councilman in Pico Rivera, Calif., which were recorded by one of his students.

Salcido was put on administrative leave by his school district this week and was also removed from the city council’s committees amid the public outcry, according to local news sources.

Kelly’s reaction was much more pointed than a comment from the Pentagon earlier this week.

Amber Smith, the Pentagon’s director of outreach, said she found the comments “uninformed” when she was asked directly about the video, which was posted on YouTube.

“I think that’s an excellent example of who we would like to connect with, and inform them with an accurate image of those who are serving and why they serve,” said Smith, who served as an Army Kiowa helicopter pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan before being appointed by President Trump last year.

In the video, Salcido can be heard repeatedly warning his students not to join the military and criticizing the quality of its troops.



“We all have night-vision goggles, all that kind of stuff, and we can’t freakin’ control these dudes wearing freakin’ robes and chanclas [flip-flops] because we have a bunch of dumb shits over there,” Salcido said. “Think about the people you know who are over there, your freakin’ stupid uncle Louie, or whatever, they’re dumb shits. They’re not like high-level thinkers, they’re not academic people, they’re not intellectual people. They’re the freakin’ lowest of the low.”

He also told his high school students that working with campus recruiters and signing up to serve is similar to prostitution.

“I don’t understand why we let the freakin’ military guys come over here and recruit you at school. We don’t have pimps come into school. Anyone interested in being a ho [whore]? And they’re going to freakin’ lie to you,” Salcido said.

At one point, he addresses a student who is wearing a Marine Corps shirt.

“Why are you wearing that Marines shirt? I thought you were going to college,” he asked the student.

The student tells him, “I am, I just had the shirt.” But Salcido warns him not to wear it to school.

“Why would you wear something that you can’t freakin’ support? Don’t ever wear that again, don’t ever wear it here,” Salcido said.