This past Wednesday, Michael Hayden, a former CIA and NSA director, has come forward to attack Republicans by claiming that he backed the claim that there was no “political force” more dangerous than Republicans.
Hayden issues his statements seemingly in response to a recent tweet from Edward Luce, an editor and writer for Financial Times. In a social media post, Luce stated, “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.”
This sentiment was apparently shared by the former intelligence director, who stated, “I agree. And I was the CIA director.”
After being set up as the director of the CIA by former President George W. Bush, Hayden led the agency for a period from 2006 to 2009. Additionally, he was previously appointed to be the director of the NSA by former President Bill Clinton, which is a position he worked in over the period from 1999 to 2005.
He kicked off his career with the Air Force where he worked his way up to general throughout the Cold War when the threat of possible nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was a worrying and real possibility and has witnessed the rise of China to its current power level over the past few decades.
Throughout his time leading the pair of intelligence titans, he would have been deeply involved with the U.S. response to the threat of Islamic terrorism as he was the leader of the NSA at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
He issued his endorsement of Joe Biden for the 2020 presidential election.
Just last year, he claimed that it was a “good idea” to send out “MAGA wearing unvaxxed” Americans over to Afghanistan.
Hayden is well known for being harshly criticized by conservatives over his statement that seems to indicate that he thinks Republicans are more of a threat to the U.S. than the Chinese Communist Party or even ISIS.
“If you wondered whether there is a Deep State,” expressed Sebastian Gorka, a former official with the Trump administration. “Here’s Obama’s DCI calling 74 million Americans worse tha[n] the [Taliban], ISIS, and Al Qaeda.”
Chuck Ross, an investigative reporter for the Washington Free Beacon, highlighted that Hayden was the leader of the CIA when the U.S. was trying to hunt down 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.
The comments from Hayden come to light just as the Biden administration, via the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, have increased their operations and investigations concerning “domestic terrorism.”