An active-duty United States Army public affairs official this week mocked a Breitbart News report on a letter signed by nearly 800 military families voicing support for their commander-in-chief, President Donald Trump.
The U.S. Army official is Sergeant Major of Army Public Affairs Mike Lavigne, who is the top senior enlisted adviser to the U.S. Army’s public affairs shop.
After Breitbart News published the report about letter, entitled: “Exclusive: Nearly 800 Military Family Members Sign Pro-Trump Letter,” a Task & Purpose reporter tweeted about the story: “There are 1.3 million service members.”
Lavigne then tweeted in response to the reporter’s comment with three laughing emojis: “math is hard.”
Breitbart News sent two requests for comment from the Army Public Affairs Chief, Brig. Gen. Amy Hannah, on the tweet but did not receive a response by deadline. Breitbart News asked Hannah:
— Why is this Army public affairs professional mocking a reporter (myself) or the story?
— Does the Army endorse his tweet or the sentiment contained in it?
— Is it acceptable for a public affairs professional to weigh in on political stories? Why or why not?
In a July Politico article on active-duty officers openly disparaging the commander in chief on social media, the Army provided this statement: “The Army requires all officers to uphold the standards of exemplary conduct and abide by the Army’s social media policy.”
The Army’s social media policy page states: “Social media is a powerful tool we use to communicate on a daily basis to tell the Army’s story. It offers an opportunity to inform, influence and engage your audience with content that communicates the values of your organization.”
After the unanswered requests, Breitbart News on Friday reached out to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy’s office and was told someone would be reaching out shortly.
Lavigne himself then reached out to Breitbart News via Twitter and text message, asking to speak. Breitbart News responded via text that any response would be on-the-record.
Lavigne then left a voicemail asking to speak. After Breitbart News returned his call, he said he was “a little sat back in his chair to be perfectly honest.” Before he could continue, he was informed again that the call would be on-the-record.
He responded that he was in the middle of crafting a statement and if the call would only be on-the-record, then he would move straight to sending the statement.
The statement he sent later said:
I’m personally and professionally embarrassed that my response to a reporter’s tweet on Thursday night could be interpreted as mocking journalists or as a political statement. That was not my intent and I apologize. As I posted last night, ‘think, type, post’ applies to everyone, including me.
It is not the first time Lavigne has disparaged Trump, his tweets, or reports about Trump.
On Tuesday, March 6, 2019, at 7:03 a.m. ET, he tweeted:
On Thursday, September 13, 2018, he tweeted to Trump: “Unconscionable.”
On Thursday, August 30, 2018, at 9:06 a.m. ET, he tweeted to Trump: “Unpresidential.”
On Friday, August 24, 2018, at 7:37 a.m. ET, he responded to one of Trump’s tweets about then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions with: “This is shameful, simply shameful. Have the courage to fire him or stop talking about it. I’m glad to see him ‘stand up’ to your incessant bullying via Twitter and sound bite. This sounds like a case study for the First Lady’s online conduct initiative…”
On Friday, May 28, 2018, at 11:02 a.m. ET, he responded to the president’s Memorial Day tweet with: “This message is shameful, sir. Just shameful. Once again, I encourage you to hire some professional communicators and then let them talk for you. It will save you from easily avoidable gaffes like this.”
He tweeted Friday, June 15, 2018, at 1:50 p.m. ET to Trump with “Oh good lord. Go back to work, sir.”
On Wednesday, March 21, 2018, at 3:28 p.m. ET, he tweeted to Trump that he was “weak”: “Russia attacked our elections… whether you participated or not remains to be seen – but either way you are widely perceived as weak on Russia because you ARE.”
He has also criticized and disparaged conservative figures. Last November, he tweeted to then-Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), currently the White House Chief of Staff, on Tuesday, November 19, 2019, at 8:30 p.m. ET: “That’s LIEUTENANT COLONEL Vindman, congressman.”
Members of the military — both active and reserve — must adhere to Department of Defense Directive 1344.10, which states that a member of the Armed Forces on active duty “may express a personal opinion on political candidates and issues, but not as a representative of the Armed Forces.”
It also states that “any activity that may be reasonably viewed as directly or indirectly associating the Department of Defense … or any component of these Departments with a partisan political activity or is otherwise contrary to the spirit and intention of this Directive shall be avoided.”
Lavigne has used the same Twitter account for both official work and disparaging the president — who has been a Republican presidential candidate since July 18, 2019.
Until Saturday morning, he used his official title in his Twitter bio. He also recently tweeted about his new position as Sergeant Major of Army Public Affairs, and tweeted on behalf of the U.S. Army and stated that he was the U.S. Army’s point of contact for anything related to social media.
On Friday, Lavigne disabled his Twitter profile, and then reinstated it on Saturday, with a new Twitter bio.
The previous bio identified him as: “Sergeant Major of Army Public Affairs; closet gamer nerd; PAO stan; and Twitter’s SGM fr 2020. Opinions/RTs/likes/follows are alllll mine, not HQDA/DoD’s.”
The new bio simply stated: “Opinions/RTs/likes/follows are mine, not HQDA/DoD’s.”
At the time he tweeted some of the disparaging tweets to Trump in 2018, he was the senior enlisted public affairs adviser to the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, which is charged with overseeing training of Army forces and the development of operational doctrine.
At the time he tweeted some of the tweets in 2019, he was the top senior enlisted public affairs adviser to Maj. Gen. Patrick J. Donahoe, deputy commanding general (Operations), Eighth Army, Republic of Korea.
A June 2020 Army article featured a graphic that advised active duty and civilian members to “Think, Type, Post.”
It said: “Think about the message being communicated and who could potentially view it. Type a communication that is consistent with Army Values. Post only those messages that demonstrate dignity and respect for self and others.”
Army Capt. Craig Handler, who is also a New York Army National Guard judge advocate, has argued that using contemptuous, disrespectful, or disloyal language words in social media posts to the president could be violations of Article 88 for commissioned officers and Article 134 for enlisted personnel. Capt. Handler wrote in a 2017 article:
“Servicemen and women who have made derogatory comments against various officials in Facebook posts, in Tweets, in forums and blogs, or any other social media outlet may be charged with violating these punitive articles. In effect, these articles limit the ability of officers and enlisted personnel to criticize certain officials verbally and in writing, both through hard copy and digitally.
He added: “Accordingly, when expressing your feelings about the President on the internet, think twice before you click on the ‘post’ button, for sometimes discretion truly is the better part of valor.”
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