Yahoo Autos 'Black lives matter': Retired Navy SEAL who oversaw bin Laden raid says he voted for Joe Biden
Retired Adm. William McRaven wrote an op-ed article Monday in The Wall Street Journal saying he held certain conservative viewpoints but also believed in ideas like "Black lives matter."
He wrote that he voted for the Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, because "we need a president for all Americans, not just half of America."
McRaven has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, who he has accused of harming American values and tearing down US institutions.
Retired Adm. William McRaven, a former US Navy SEAL commander who served as the head of US Special Operations Command, wrote an op-ed article in The Wall Street Journal on Monday in which he said he voted for Joe Biden.
McRaven described himself as a "pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, small-government, strong-defense and a national-anthem-standing conservative" but said the US was no longer a country that set an example of democracy.
While McRaven aligned himself with those conservative ideals, he also said "we need a president for all Americans, not just half of America," adding: "I also believe that black lives matter, that the Dreamers deserve a path to citizenship, that diversity and inclusion are essential to our national success, that education is the great equalizer, that climate change is real and that the First Amendment is the cornerstone of our democracy."
McRaven, who like some other military leaders is outspoken on the importance of international alliances, stressed that the US's influence had been on the decline.
"Now, the world no longer looks up to America," McRaven wrote. "They have been witness to our dismissiveness, our lack of respect and our transactional approach to global issues. They have seen us tear up our treaties, leave our allies on the battlefield and cozy up to despots and dictators."
"They have seen our incompetence in handling the pandemic and the wildfires," McRaven added, referring to the country's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the record-breaking wildfires. "They have seen us struggle with social injustice. They no longer think we can lead, because they have seen an ineptness and a disdain for civility that is beyond anything in their memory."
