Donald Trump's attempt to reign in the Republican Party is not unlike that of a military commander giving orders to his soldiers on the battlefield, retired Navy SEAL Carl Higbie tells Newsmax TV.
"I don't think he's being that ridiculous by going after the party leaders that are refusing to support him. Donald Trump is the spearhead of the party," Higbie said Wednesday to Ed Berliner on "America Talks Live."
See Ed Berliner on Newsmax TV: Tune in beginning at Noon EDT to see "America Talks Live" – on FiOS 115, YouTube Livestream, Newsmax TV App from any smartphone, NewsmaxTV.com, Roku, Amazon Fire – More Systems Here
"And guess what? When you're out on those field team missions and you have one guy who's the head of the group, you listen to him no matter what.
"You fall behind him whether you disagree with him or not, and it might cost you your life, but you go with him and you back him until the end of the firefight."
The issue, said Higbie —now a spokesman for Great America PAC which supports Trump — is the GOP is ill-advisedly turning its back on the real-estate tycoon they tapped to be their presidential candidate.
"That's the problem here. The Republican establishment has broken away from its team leader and they've said you know what we're not going to go with you," he said.
"If that were to happen on a mission, you'd have a lot of dead people."
He said Trump is still pulling a lot of support — something Republican leaders must pay attention to instead of backing off to concentrate on tight Congressional races.
"When it comes down to it, Donald Trump has run all over the country raising money for the RNC that is now being pumped into these down-ballots and not Donald Trump's campaign, which is not fair," Higbie said.
"It's not the right thing to do by the party and I think what the people who are running in the down-ballots need to tout their record.
"They need to say 'this is why I'm better than the other person.' If they can't do that, if they can't stand independently on that, maybe they don't belong there anyway."
Higbie is the author of "Enemies, Foreign and Domestic: A SEAL's Story" published by Post Hill Press.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.