‘That’s Scary!’ Charlamagne Worries Trump Cutting Military Down to ‘Loyalists’ Who Will Help Him Stay in Power

Charlamagne Tha God sounded the alarm over the shakeup in the military’s top ranks, warning that President Donald Trump could be trying to surround himself with “loyalists” willing to help him remain in power.

As Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed on Wednesday, fresh cuts will eliminate 20% of positions reserved for generals and admirals — double the 10% previously ordered. And as retired Major General Randy Manner explained, Hegseth has “already fired 80 people… because of their gender, because they’re not white like him, or because they were associated with Gen. [Mark] Milley or others.”

Charlamagne voiced his concerns on Thursday’s edition of The Breakfast Club, stressing, “That’s scary because they are probably getting rid of people who don’t want to be Trump loyalists. Because if you really want to overthrow an election, you really want to undermine democracy; you really don’t plan to leave the White House in a couple of years, you use the military to overthrow that said democracy.”

Later in the show, responding to a caller who said that the cuts are “just to get rid of Black people,” Charlamagne added, “I don’t think it’s just about Black people. I mean, it is about Black people, but I think it’s about Trump loyalists, man… If you ask me, I think they’re gonna try to use the military to overthrow elections, and when Trump decides he doesn’t wanna leave the White House in a couple of years, he’ll have the military on his side.”

He returned to the topic near the end of the episode, naming Hegseth the “Donkey of the Day” during the show’s recurring segment.

Acknowledging that his “YouTube conspiracy theorist” side fuels his fears, Charlamagne also pushed back on his own speculation, adding, “The common-sense, fact-based individual in me says, ‘Hey, hey. Stop. The available evidence doesn’t support that theory, so let’s think more logically.'”

He explained, “What’s logical to me is that the Trump administration is removing senior military leadership while also openly talking about getting rid of people associated with ‘wokeness,’ which is an ideology it opposes. Now, that, ladies and gentlemen, creates a dangerous message inside the military, and that message is simply: loyalty to the Constitution may not be enough anymore. So, officers might start believing that loyalty to the president is how you survive.”

With that line of thinking, he said, the “YouTube conspiracy theorist in me comes back and says, ‘Yes! That loyalty to the president and not the Constitution is what will cause them to steal the midterms and help Trump stay in power in 2028.'”

Watch above on YouTube.

Jason Cohen contributed to this report.

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