Fissures emerge in GOP on the issue of deploying troops to quell protesters
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper’s implicit rebuke of President Donald Trump over using active-duty troops to quell domestic unrest may have landed Esper in hot water and is revealing splits within GOP ranks on the question.
Even as upheaval in U.S. cities has started to wane, the political fallout may still spread.
Two days after Trump said he might need to send active-duty troops to help police combat lawlessness in major cities — even if governors did not want the troops — Esper told reporters Wednesday he did not see the urgency in adding regular troops to the thousands of National Guard forces now backing up American police. Continue reading.