Former CIA Director Michael Hayden agreed with a journalist's social media post saying Republicans were more "nihilistic, dangerous & contemptible" than international extremists.
On Friday, Financial Times Associate Editor Edward Luce tweeted: "I've covered extremism and violent ideologies around the world over my career. Have never come across a political force more nihilistic, dangerous & contemptible than today's Republicans. Nothing close."
Hayden on Wednesday retweeted Luce's post and added: "I agree. And I was the CIA Director."
People were quick to respond, including The Heritage Foundation senior adviser and former congressional lawyer Mike Howell.
"If you were head of NSA on 9/11 you shouldn't freely admit such terrible judgment especially if you missed the Big One," Howell tweeted.
Jeff Giesea, a self-declared former Trump supporter, chastised Hayden for his post.
"Respectfully, what are you trying to accomplish with this message? I understand your concerns, but this type of message reinforces the prevailing GOP narrative of a partisan, weaponized intelligence apparatus," Giesea tweeted.
"Further, your message overstates the case. Do you truly believe the GOP is more nihilistic & contemptible than Al Qaeda? Seriously? Make that case," Giesea wrote in a follow-up tweet. "You also paint with too broad a brush. Not all Republicans are extremists, and Uncle MAGA is not the enemy. Tone it down," Giesea said in a follow-up tweet.
Also a former national security adviser, Hayden took to Twitter last week to make a comment that seemed to promote execution for leakers of nuclear secrets.
A retired four-star general, Hayden retweeted a post by historian Michael Beschloss, who shared a photo of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg with the comment, "Rosenbergs were convicted for giving U.S. nuclear secrets to Moscow, and were executed June 1953"
"Sounds about right," Hayden tweeted Thursday night.
That post came three days after FBI agents raided the Florida home of former President Donald Trump.
The Justice Department on Friday said FBI agents who searched Trump's Florida home last week removed 11 sets of classified documents including some marked as top secret. The department added that prosecutors had probable cause to believe the former president may have violated the Espionage Act.
Trump and his allies say the documents had been declassified.
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