Wednesday on MS NOW’s “The Briefing,” Jeh Johnson, formerly the Homeland Security Secretary during the Obama administration, said President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy 500 additional National Guard members to Washington, D.C., after two soldiers were shot was a “knee-jerk” reaction.
Host Jen Psaki said, “Let me ask you about some other news we learned. Pete Hegseth announced this earlier, and then President Trump just confirmed it, the plan to deploy 500 additional National Guard. This is in addition to the over 2000 National Guard who are already in the city of Washington D.C.. What do what do you make of that?”
Johnson said, “Seven hours after the shooting, it it it feels knee-jerk. If I were asked to deploy an additional 500 Guard, the question I’d be asking is, well, how will 500 additional members of the National Guard on the streets of Washington D.C. at 17th and H make a difference to a deranged shooter who’s determined to take down somebody in uniform? That’s the question I’d be asking right now. I want to add that in general, we have laws against what we refer to as Posse Comitatus military on the streets of American cities. One of the reasons I think the military is so respected in this country is because we do try to keep the military cabined to overseas conflicts.”
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