The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff joined the chorus of criticism directed at President Donald Trump for claiming that former President Barack Obama did not call the families of U.S. service personnel killed in conflict.
"POTUS 43 & 44 and first ladies cared deeply, worked tirelessly for the serving, the fallen, and their families," General Marty Dempsey tweeted Monday. "Not politics. Sacred Trust."
Before his retirement, Dempsey served as 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for four years under the Obama administration.
POTUS 43 & 44 and first ladies cared deeply, worked tirelessly for the serving, the fallen, and their families. Not politics. Sacred Trust.
— GEN(R) Martin E. Dempsey (@Martin_Dempsey) October 17, 2017
Dempsey has in recent months offered a series of veiled criticisms of Trump's leadership under the #RadicalInclusion hashtag.
"Time for steady. Puerto Rico, Wild Fires, Budget, Anthem, Iran, North Korea, Cyber Security. Solvable with leadership and #RadicalInclusion," he tweeted.
In an impromptu press conference in the White House Rose Garden Monday, Trump claimed that Obama did not call the families of fallen service personnel.
"The traditional way, if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn't make calls, a lot of them didn't make calls," Trump said. "I like to call when it's appropriate, when I think I'm able to do it."
Trump was responding to a question about when he would make a statement about four U.S. soldiers killed in Niger last month.
Former Obama staffers also criticized Trump.
"Stop the damn lying - you're the President. I went to Dover AFB with 44 and saw him comfort the families of both the fallen military & DEA," tweeted Eric Holder, who served as 82nd attorney general under Obama.
Stop the damn lying - you’re the President. I went to Dover AFB with 44 and saw him comfort the families of both the fallen military & DEA. pic.twitter.com/HhE4KbTBkJ
— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) October 17, 2017
"This is an outrageous and disrespectful lie even by Trump standards. Also: Obama never attacked a Gold Star family," tweeted Ben Rhodes, who served as deputy national security adviser for strategic communications for the administration.
Leon Panetta, who served as CIA director and defense secretary, said on CNN: "President Obama I know wrote letters, also made some calls as I recall, but more importantly, actually visited with the family."
Later in Monday's press conference, when pressed about his allegation about Obama, Trump seemed to backtrack.
"I don't know if he did," Trump said.
"I was told that he didn't often," Trump said. "A lot of presidents don't, they write letters. I do a combination of both."
Trump later said that he thinks Obama "did sometimes [call], and sometimes he didn't, I don't know, that's what I was told."
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended Trump Monday evening.
"The president wasn't criticizing predecessors, but stating a fact," she said in a statement.
"When American heroes make the ultimate sacrifice, presidents pay their respects. Sometimes they call, sometimes they send a letter, other times they have the opportunity to meet family members in person. This president, like his predecessors, has done each of these," she said.
"Individuals claiming former presidents, such as their bosses, called each family of the fallen, are mistaken."
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