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Trump blasts Milley after book suggested former president sought post-election coup

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Former President Donald Trump on Thursday blasted Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, after excerpts from a book reportedly revealed the general fretted over a potential coup attempt in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

Milley said he felt he needed to be "on guard" after President Joe Biden won the election, according to clips from I Alone Can Fix It, a book by two Washington Post reporters set for release Tuesday. Milley reportedly likened the former president's behavior to that of Adolf Hitler.

"They may try, but they're not going to f****** succeed," Milley told his deputies, according to the book. "You can't do this without the military. You can't do this without the CIA and the FBI. We're the guys with the guns."

"This is a Reichstag moment," the book continued. "The gospel of the Fuhrer."

JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN FRETTED OVER COUP ATTEMPT AFTER TRUMP LOST 2020 ELECTION: BOOK

Suggestions regarding an overthrow after the election were false as Trump is "not into coups," he said.

"Despite massive Voter Fraud and Irregularities during the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, that we are now seeing play out in very big and important States, I never threatened, or spoke about, to anyone, a coup of our Government," Trump said in a tweemail statement Thursday. "So ridiculous! Sorry to inform you, but an Election is my form of 'coup,' and if I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is General Mark Milley."

"He got his job only because the world’s most overrated general, James Mattis, could not stand him, had no respect for him, and would not recommend him," he added. "To me the fact that Mattis didn’t like him, just like Obama didn’t like him and actually fired Milley, was a good thing, not a bad thing. I often act counter to people's advice who I don’t respect."

Trump referenced Milley's participation in the trek to St. John's Church in Washington, D.C., in June 2020, where the former president posed for a photograph holding a Bible. After stirring controversy, a watchdog in June revealed that protesters were not forcibly cleared from Lafayette Park for Trump's visit, but rather the removal was due to the installation of fencing in the area.

Milley "should not have been there," he said at the time, alluding to an improper display of military authority.

"In any event, I lost respect for Milley when we walked together to St. John’s Church (which was still smoldering from a Radical Left fire set the day before), side by side, a walk that has now been proven to be totally appropriate—and the following day Milley choked like a dog in front of the Fake News when they told him they thought he should not have been walking with the President, which turned out to be incorrect," Trump said.

"He apologized profusely, making it a big story, instead of saying I am proud to walk with and protect the President of the United States," he added. "Had he said that, it would have all been over, no big deal, but I saw at that moment he had no courage or skill, certainly not the type of person I would be talking 'coup' with. I’m not into coups!"

Conservatives have criticized Milley for his defense of critical race theory during a hearing in June, prompting Trump to demand his resignation.

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“I’ve read Karl Marx. I’ve read Lenin," Milley said when asked about the race-based curriculum. "That doesn’t make me a communist. So, what is wrong with understanding ... the country which we are here to defend?”

“I want to understand white rage, and I’m white," he continued, adding the military should be "widely read" on theories, including critical race theory.