“That’s why they’re on an 18-hour standby to respond to urgent global emergencies, not local law enforcement missions. The fact that this conversation even took place — by text, no less — is highly inappropriate,” said McCollum, the ranking member on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
When asked for a response to the criticism, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson didn’t address specifics related to sending the 82nd to Portland or the fact that a government official was indiscreetly sending messages over an unsecured messaging app. Instead, she reiterated a previous comment that the texts do not contain classified information and commended Salisbury for working while he traveled through Minnesota last weekend for a family funeral.
U.S. Rep. Illhan Omar criticized the idea of sending “elite military units to confront peaceful protesters.”
U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison said the Trump administration’s “increasing threat of using military force against citizens of the United States should trouble all Americans.”
“Given that the president has declared multiple times that he ‘hates’ his political opponents, these threats are particularly harrowing,” she said.
The four Republicans in Minnesota’s congressional delegation did not respond to requests for comment, including Rep. Brad Finstad, the delegation’s only member on the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Tom Emmer, the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House.
