MSNBC’s Symone Sanders-Townsend asked whether President Donald Trump fired Air Force Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown Jr because he was Black despite Trump originally nominating Brown for a different position in 2020.
Sanders-Townsend was part of a panel on MSNBC’s "The Weekend" that commented on Trump firing several top military officers, including Brown, who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Trump announced that he plans on nominating retired Lt. Gen. Dan "Razin" Caine to take his place, marking the first time a president has pulled a military officer out of retirement to head the Joint Chiefs.
She took issue with Brown’s firing, insisting that his race needed to be considered as a factor.
MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend commented on President Donald Trump firing top military officials over the weekend. (MSNBC screenshot)
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"What is going on?" she asked. "And I just, I mean, I feel like that’s what people across…what is going on here? Just really what is going on between CQ Brown, and I’m just going to say it — we need to ask the question: was CQ Brown fired because he was Black? Because it’s not that he’s unqualified, right?"
"He was confirmed by the Senate. And then when it comes to Ukraine, I just, like, is Ronald Reagan rolling over in his grave right now?," she continued. "Where are the real Republicans in America? Where are the people that care about democracy? I am just, I’m very confused and concerned."
Brown was originally nominated for the Air Force chief of staff by Trump during his first term in 2020.
"My decision to appoint @usairforce General Charles Brown as the USA’s first-ever African American military service chief has now been approved by the Senate," Trump tweeted after Brown was confirmed in June 2020. "A historic day for America! Excited to work even more closely with Gen. Brown, who is a Patriot and Great Leader!"
Brown was later nominated to be the first African-American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2023 by then-President Biden.
Firing Brown was just one of many changes Trump announced to top military brass in recent days, including plans to replace the U.S. Navy's top officer, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead one of the military branches. Trump is also removing the Air Force vice chief of staff, Gen. Jim Slife, and the judge advocates general of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Trump nominated Brown to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2020. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Fox News' Michael Lee contributed to this report.