CINC Disqualifiers

By Bill Doughty

If a presidential candidate does any (or all) of the following, should they be disqualified from becoming Commander in Chief?

• Call political opponents “the enemy from within” and pledge to get the National Guard and military to fight against opponents, including an elected congressman.*
• Threaten to court-martial his former CJCS for treason and consider punishing him with death.
• Invoke wartime powers and order the United States military to round up residents who are undocumented immigrants, including some who are parents of U.S. citizens, set up internment camps, and conduct mass deportations, separating families –– again.
• Call for “termination of all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
• Summon, incite, and send supporters to the Capitol in an insurrection attempt, fail to intervene for hours as his supporters attack law enforcement personnel, and then promise to pardon them, saying they are “hostages” and “patriots” –– calling J6 a “day of love” and “a love fest.”
• Attempt to interfere in states’ election processes and continually lie about election results.
• Ask the military to shoot American citizen protesters.
• Ask the military to consider shooting missiles into Mexico against drug cartels.
• Consider using nuclear weapons against hurricanes.
• Exploit natural disasters and lie for political gain despite harm to victims.
• Denigrate military service and sacrifice, castigate wounded warriors, and then exploit Arlington Cemetery for political gain.
• Befriend autocrats and enemies and alienate allies, including NATO; demonstrate a willingness to appease Putin’s Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, saying Zelensky is at fault for starting the war and calling Putin “genius” and “savvy.”
• Remove, hide, and refuse to return classified documents, including Top Secret and compartmented information of the highest sensitivity.
• Threaten to punish women who get abortions, proudly take credit for ending Roe vs. Wade, and then see women from some states suffer.
• Refuse to release tax records as every modern presidential candidate has done, and brag about evading taxes, paying virtually no taxes for several years, with purported negative income.
• Refuse to release medical records as every modern presidential candidate has done, despite being 82 years old in office if elected.
• Refuse to debate his opponent again (even on a network biased for him) after being soundly defeated in a first debate, then refusing to be interviewed by independent media.
• Threaten retribution and shutting down media organizations who do not agree with him.
• Use or allow to be used AI-generated mis- and disinformation in a presidential campaign.
• Lie, gaslight, and grift continuously.
• Foment fear and hate by dividing and “otherizing” instead of uniting people.
• Call the United States of America a destroyed hellscape.
• Castigate political opponents for not fixing a broken immigration policy, then intervening to stop Congress from passing a bipartisan immigration bill.

The above list does not include juvenile name-calling, promises of up-to 2,000 percent tariffs, multiple sexual misconduct allegations and hush-money scandals, other criminal indictments and convictions, two impeachments and multiple referrals, bribes to big-oil CEOs, denying the reality of climate change, requesting and accepting foreign assistance from Russia in his election, opposing gun safety regulations, and a bizarre 39-minute extended swaying to music at a purported town hall instead of discussing plans and policy.

A qualified and good CINC needs character, integrity, honesty, and judgment. In short: honor, courage and commitment.

* Some supporters of ex-President Trump attempt to downplay the promise to mobilize the military against American citizens, citing Posse Comitatus laws, guard rails, and core values of the military. Service members take an oath to support and defend the Constitution; leaders know they can refuse to follow unlawful orders even from their commander in chief. However, the Supreme Court, with a majority of Trump-supporting justices, have empowered the chief executive with immunity powers; Project 2025 calls for loyalty tests and a purge of top military officers who don’t support the president; and there would be no guard rails against a rogue president. No Pence, Mattis, Kelly, McMaster, Bolton, Tillerson, Esper and Milley; instead: Vance, Patel, Miller, Paxton, Bannon, Navarro, Greene, Ramaswamy, and Flynn.

The true "enemies from within" are fear, hate, arrogance, and dishonesty.