Reports that the U.S. Defense Department filled the audience at Fort Bragg with pro-MAGA soldiers for President Donald Trump‘s appearance this week remain unconfirmed. But the opinion of military veteran Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), who served two combat tours in Iraq, is definite.
[Reporting on Bragg audience, Military.com said it had examined internal documents that revealed “a tightly orchestrated effort to curate the optics of Trump’s recent visit, including handpicking soldiers for the audience based on political leanings and physical appearance.”]
A retired U.S. Army Captain and graduate of West Point, Ryan excoriated Trump’s Fort Bragg speech, during which the President goaded the soldiers to boo at the mention of California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who are dealing simultaneously with protests against the administration’s ICE detainment actions and the unrequested presence of National Guard troops and Marines sent by Trump.
During his Fort Bragg speech, Trump’s criticism of Newsom and Bass included deriding them as “incompetent.”
Ryan wrote on X: “I served two combat tours in Iraq. Trump’s dangerous politicization of our military yesterday at Ft. Bragg crossed a bright red line. Our loyalty is to no man. Our loyalty is to the Constitution & our oath to protect and defend it against all enemies, foreign AND domestic.”
I served two combat tours in Iraq.
Trump’s dangerous politicization of our military yesterday at Ft. Bragg crossed a bright red line.
Our loyalty is to no man. Our loyalty is to the Constitution & our oath to protect and defend it against all enemies, foreign AND domestic. https://t.co/qVVC85z76M
— Pat Ryan
(@PatRyanUC) June 11, 2025
Ryan’s post received pushback from fellow veteran, Republican Buzz Patterson, who replied: “I served in the Air Force for 20 years as a pilot. I saw duty in 70 countries, the Gulf War, Bosnia, and special ops with the SEALs and DELTA. I’ll call you and raise you. Democrats ‘politicized’ the military years ago. I worked for Bill Clinton. It was war. You are late to the party.”
As seen below, Patterson echoed Trump’s critique of Newsom by calling him “a dork.”
Cool state. You’re a dork. https://t.co/yGzHgZSMVH
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) June 12, 2025
In politicizing the event at Fort Bragg, Trump doubled down on politicization of the LA situation executed by the Pentagon — notably through the DOD Rapid Response account — which, though required by law to remain apolitical, called the California Governor by a derogatory nickname in the post below.
Gavin Newscum’s California… https://t.co/bvwTcJG3qH pic.twitter.com/kYrqKZuvJ2
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) June 9, 2025