Former NATO commander mocks Trump's terrorism speech

When it comes to the substance of Donald Trump's speech proposing "extreme vetting" of immigrants to the United States, retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis on Tuesday indicated that the Republican nominee lacked specifics.

Stavridis, who was vetted by Hillary Clinton's campaign as a potential running mate, called Trump's address "a 'where's the beef' type of speech" during an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."


"I think he made a reasonable stab at ‘hey, we ought to try to take some international action.’ He kind of said, 'good dog, NATO,'" Stavridis remarked, referring to Trump's vow to "work closely" with NATO in counterterrorism efforts.

Trump also claimed credit during his speech for getting NATO to change its priorities, remarking that since his comments criticizing the organization's response to terrorism, it now has "a new division focused on terror threats," a notion Stavridis mocked.

"You know, NATO has had that counter-terrorism division forever," Stavridis continued. "What really was lacking in the speech is anything about how the inter-agency of the government would work together, how we’d use intelligence, how we’d use cyber, private/public communication, strategic communication. The only strategic communication I heard was, 'I hate Muslims.'"