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MAGA Community Raises $2.2 Million for Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, Who Has Publicly Insulted Trump
The majority of Americans were outraged by the Biden administration’s monumental failure of leadership during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. It is viewed by many across the political spectrum as the greatest foreign policy disaster in U.S. history. The decision to abandon Bagram Airfield, leaving behind advanced military vehicles, weapons, and equipment valued at over $80 billion, before withdrawing Americans and our Afghan allies led directly to the deaths of 13 service members and the Taliban takeover of the country. To compound matters, this administration shamefully broke the once sacred military commitment to leave no American behind.
China has stepped up its intrusions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone. Over the weekend, the country sent 77 military aircraft into the space, its boldest provocation yet. In addition, a spate of reports in the past few days allege that our greatest geopolitical foe may have just occupied Bagram Airfield.
There’s no way to whitewash this humiliating defeat, the devastating consequences of which will be felt for decades to come.
One Marine officer, Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, who had served the country honorably for 17 years, put his job on the line to “demand accountability” from his senior leaders.
I have the utmost respect for this young man. I realize Scheller jumped the chain of command with a very public display while in uniform. But I applaud his courage to risk his career and his pension to bring attention to some very obvious truths.
Despite knowing that President Joe Biden’s foolish decisions would significantly increase the risk to both U.S. troops and American civilians during the withdrawal effort, particularly the abandonment of Bagram Airfield, no one was willing to say, “No, Mr. President. Respectfully, I must resign.”
Scheller has since been relieved of his duties, his income, and his pension. Last Monday, he was placed inside a military jail.
Several days before he was arrested and jailed, Scheller went on a Facebook rant in which he denounced a group of military leaders and former presidents. First on the list was former President Donald Trump. The others included former President Barack Obama; retired Gens. James Mattis and David Petraeus; retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn; Maj. Gens. Julian Alford and Francis Donovan; Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr.; and an instructor at a military college.
Scheller informed Trump he doesn’t need or want his help, that he hates how Trump has divided the country, and that he could never work with him. He also wrote, “Tell your son to stop tweeting about me.”
Although Trump has not commented publicly on the Scheller story, his son Donald Trump Jr. has supported him on Twitter.
President Trump. I was told by everyone to kiss the ring because of your following and power. I refuse. While I respect your foreign policy positions, I hate how you divided the country. I don’t need or want your help. You do not have the ability to pull US together. You may even win the next election. But your generation’s time is running out. Tell your son to stop tweeting about me. Your whole family knows nothing about US or our sacrifices. I could never work with you. I’d rather sit in jail and be released with a dishonorable than make compromises in my beliefs.
This was a bad idea for two reasons. First, Trump and his supporters would be natural allies for Scheller.
In fact, on Sunday, Business Insider reported that Make America Great Again supporters had raised over $2.26 million for the embattled former Marine officer.
Second, although the country became more deeply divided during the Trump years, the division was not caused by the former president. It was thrust upon him by a deep state that had broken all the rules, weaponizing once highly revered U.S. institutions against him in an effort first to prevent his victory, and afterward, in a bid to remove him from the presidency.
Scheller wrote that, “Your whole family knows nothing about US or our sacrifices.” I would argue that Trump does know a thing or two about sacrifice. He and his family lived a charmed life prior to his run for the presidency. Then the attacks from the left began, and they weren’t limited to the candidate. The entire Trump family was fair game.
His campaign was subjected to tactics and scrutiny never before witnessed in American politics, and the corruption went all the way to the top. In October 2020, then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified then-CIA Director John Brennan’s handwritten notes dated July 28, 2016. He made the notes after briefing then-President Obama about Hillary Clinton’s scheme to “stir up” the race. The notes referenced her “plan” to portray Trump as an agent of Russia as “a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server,” according to Fox News. They were all in on it.
Following Trump’s unexpected victory, they all doubled down on the ruse, diminishing trust in his nascent administration and casting a shadow over his entire presidency. The FBI and other intelligence agencies relentlessly conspired against him — as did the legacy media. It continues to this day.
Trump then endured two sham impeachments.
So, to address Scheller’s point, I think it’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about sacrifice and has a pretty clear idea of how the U.S. government operates.
Former President Donald Trump is one of the most patriotic presidents we’ve ever had. I am convinced that he loves America.
And as much as I respect Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller for standing up to military leadership over its disastrous handling of the U.S. exit from Afghanistan, his rejection of Trump is not based in fact.
Please follow me on Twitter.
Published in Foreign Policy
This really made me think Sheller is not rational. I believe he has a martyr complex. He is not right in the mind even though his cause is just.
I think it was member Skyler who convinced me early on that while the sentiment may be correct, Scheller’s actions were egregiously incorrect.
Courage would have been to resign his commission (and his pension); courage would have been to make his case within the chain of command; effectiveness would have been to work within his actual area of influence to effect change where he could.
To support Scheller in his actions is to support the Deep State Resistance who fought President Trump from within. How is one different than the other? Preference, opinion, politics. This resistance is not an honorable line of attack in a still free country, in a time when our institutions need to be strengthened rather than weakened.
I am not sure about using martyr complex, but clearly this man is emotionally extremely overwrought, to the point where he has lost the ability to rationalize and make good decisions. Reading between the lines, it sounded like his marriage broke up too, either before or because of the first public video. People under that level of emotional stress lash out irrationally at lots of things, even when many of their grievances are real and justified.
Sure, yeah, unh-huh, it was Trump who divided the country, and not all the Democrats and Never Trumpers screaming that he was an legitimate president and his voters were “deplorables.” It wasn’t the Democratic Media Complex choosing to align themselves with one political party against the other. No, see it, only Trump divided America.
Because Mean Tweets.
I think you meant “illegitimate”. Scheller mistakes Trump’s “revealing” as “dividing”. Bad judgement.
Yup. Auto correct is my enemy once again
This is also evidence of the “bad side” of conservative talk radio–at least some of it. There has been knee-jerk pro-Scheller reaction on certain shows that indicates lack of in-depth investigation and thought. I get that, in some sense, Scheller’s recent words are appealing, but there is often a story behind the story.
I have posted a couple of times on Stuart Scheller, and while I’ve made no bones about the fact that his situation is concerning, and that he may have jumbled the order of “ready, aim fire” in this matter (wouldn’t be the first USMC LtCol, nor probably the last, to do so), I’m going to play the “unpopular on all sides” card, and say this:
I won’t throw him under the bus. For several reasons:
It’s unfortunate (for us) that sometimes those who take stands that we respect may not share all the same values, ideals, goals, and allegiances that we do.
But, as a former member here was fond of saying, sometimes we just have to “deal with it.” Because if we can’t find a way to do that, we’ll eventually all find ourselves sequestered on our own little islands, lamenting the fact that nobody else is pure enough, and good enough, to share them with us.
No. I’m with Scheller. Not because he’s perfect. Not because he’s brave. Not because he’s suffered much in the service of his country. Not because he says nice things, or bad things, about a particular politician, military leader, or civil servant. Not because he’s done everything according to the book–because I know, and I’m sure he knows, that he hasn’t.
I’m with him because he’s right.
Foundationally, it’s as simple as that.
None of this has made sense from the first video.
I am too.
I don’t know what to think of Scheller. I did watch 2 of his videos, and I think that they were the first 2. I have not followed him since.
From what I did see, I experienced a mild “boogaloo boys” vibe from Scheller. This was just an mild impression, like a spidey-sense, and it might well be wrong.
Well, that certainly plays into the Left’s (and the Generals) well-publicized impression of those who’ve fought and died for the country, and the current concern among military leadership about “extremism” in the ranks….
Although what Lt Col Sheller was largely true, he certainly used poor judgement in his statement/rant. He should have resigned if he felt compelled to say what he did.
I understand your concern. I’m not normally one to credit such suggestions. I do not have such a reaction to conservative or libertarian folks. I’m strongly conservative, thought that the Trump impeachments were nonsense, and thought that the overreaction to the Capitol riot was ridiculous. I said so at the time, right here.
My reaction was specific to Scheller, and as far as I recall, specific to the second video.
I’m not a military guy myself, but I am the proud father of a Marine sergeant. I’ve talked to him about Scheller specifically, and — in different discussions — about “boogaloo” concerns. I actually learned the term “boogaloo” from him. I don’t think that it’s a widespread problem, but I don’t think that it’s non-existent, either.
Yes. Mr. She was a Marine (reservist), but the experience formed a huge part of his life. I’ve worked with USMC grunts, NCOs and officer ranks over the years in such numbers that I’m prone to say “they stick to me like flypaper.” In addition, I’ve worked with other branch service members, and am the proud daughter of a British Army (WWII) Major and multi-decade Colonial Service administrator.
@skyler has said, many times over the years, that the military contains a cross-section of Americans, and that, if one goes looking, one can find good, bad, and indifferent people throughout, just as one can in the general population. I’m sure that’s true.
Nevertheless, as a person who’s been excoriated a few times here (see: “unpopular on all fronts” above) for saying that she thinks that Trump would have done better, in a few instances to keep his trap shut or step back, on the grounds that such thoughts and expressions only give aid and comfort to our adversaries, I worry that jumping to conclusions too quickly in the matter of Stuart Scheller may have the same effect.
Which is another reason I won’t bail.
I don’t know why Scheller is in the brig and whether that is just or not. I don’t care what Scheller had to say about Trump, although the comment quoted above does not strike me as particularly insightful. I do know and do care that Scheller broke the chain command (for want of a better phrase) and, for that reason, cannot be “right” no matter the substance of his remarks
EDIT: If what you’re doing is distinguishing between “he should have done what he did” and “he should not have done what he did” then we have less of an issue. Nevertheless, he’s still right on the matter.
I think that is is perfectly possible to be “right” even if one breaks the (earthly) chain of command.
cf: Sophocles, Antigone. And so much else.
Yes, Scheller was “right” on the issues he addressed and he chose to be not “right” with respect to the UCMJ.
I disagree with the idea that the chain of command is inviolate. Like all things, it’s good and useful until it’s not.
That could be my lifetime in the flatly organized private sector speaking, or my other lifetime as the mother of three argumentative kids :-), but I think objectivity demands that we listen to people no matter where they are in the chain. And it bugs me that the Democrats, as they always do, responded to him by punishing him personally and discrediting him thorough rather than responding to the darn question.
(I can’t help wondering why such treatment wasn’t given to young John Kerry and his Winter Soldiers testimony to Congress. But in that case, . . . )
I had a problem with one of my kids’ high school teachers. I went to the principal about it, and his response was so typical for members of our local teachers’ union: “Take this up with the teacher. We have a chain of command.” How typical that the group of people most resistant to authority would respond to criticism that way. :-)
But it was not a problem I could take to the teacher because it involved a personality conflict and the teacher had power over my child in terms of the grades that he could give to my child. It was an unequal power relationship.
I admire Scheller very much. He asked the right question. His video should have focused US attention on the sole most important question: Why did Biden hand over Bagram to the Taliban?
Biden didn’t hand over Bagram to the Taliban. He handed it over to the Afghan military, which then collapsed. He pulled out of Afghanistan to fulfill a campaign promise, on an issue in which he agreed with President Trump.
That may be technically correct, but that’s one of the biggest copouts of all time. No one ever said that withdrawal was unconditional, and he had to know (or should have as it turns out) that turning it over to the Afghan military was effectively the same as turning it over to the Taliban.
So we will disagree on that. You cannot run a military in that manner or pretty soon every zone will have a Scheller–or maybe more than one. The events Sheller discussed were over and done. His alleged “truth-telling” could’ve have waited until after resignation, which likely would have been honorable. The fact that he acted precipitously as an officer is also concerning to me, but that’s probably another discussion.
Which, in your mind, is the higher authority?
Biden lied about the capability of the Afghan military. He made that clear in his conversation with Ghani, in which he encouraged Ghani to lie about the capability of the Afghan military. He gave away Bagram AFB, a facility which was clearly in command of the United States) to an entity which he knew couldn’t hold it. And thus it fell (expectably) into the hands of the Taliban. That’s a disgrace.
LOL. I agree that Biden would like to hang the Afghanistan withdrawal disgrace firmly round Trump’s neck. What I can’t understand is why some Trump supporters are determined that he’s right in doing so.
I looked up the video by Lt. Col. Scheller that gave me the negative reaction that I referenced in #12 above. I found an edited version that included the 2 statements that I recalled giving me concern. It’s only about 2 minutes long, and there is a bit of foul language.
At about 1:12, he said: “Follow me, and we will bring the whole [expletive] system down.”
At 1:40, he said: “For the over 2 million dollars that I would potentially receive in retirement for the rest of my life, for the however much extra the disability would be, I think that money should go back to all the senior general officers, because I think they need it more than I do, because when I am done with what I’m about to do, you all are going to need the jobs and the security.”
So I don’t think that I was entirely imagining things when I had a “boogaloo” concern. However, he was under a lot of stress, and might just have been ranting a bit carelessly.
The UCMJ is of little use if the Marxists are taking over the country. But I’m a well-established anti-Communist.
Yeah. Perhaps. I’d say–look at his body of work prior to this (what some might consider a) meltdown. And go from there. Regardless, or irregardless as the case may be, of his opinion of Trump at any point in time.
He didn’t hand it over to anybody, apparently.
https://amp.abc.net.au/article/100277452
To be honest, there were no attacks on US personnel by the Taliban in the two years after the Doha accords were signed. Not doing a hand over to the Afghan Govt may have been part of the deal.
We are well past the first spin cycle on this and it is not intellectually rational to still think that Trump wanting Trump to pull out of Afghanistan and Biden wanting Biden to pull out of Afghanistan are equivalent. I know that is not exactly what you said but you are clearly being suggestive and obtuse here. Par for the course…
I understand and agree with you about the military. Yet I think there needs to be a relief valve place in high-stress situations through which the chain of command can be worked around.
After reading about General Milley’s conversations with the Chinese, I can’t help thinking that things are messed up in the military these days and Scheller is a symptom of a larger problem.
But you are right. He really should have found other ways to communicate up the chain.