'Just awful': Outrage as Trump ousts Joint Chiefs chairman

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is ousting C.Q. Brown as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"Today, I am honored to announce that I am nominating Air Force Lieutenant General Dan 'Razin' Caine to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a 'warfighter' with significant interagency and special operations experience," Trump posted to his Truth Social platform. "Despite being highly qualified and respected to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the previous administration, General Caine was passed over for promotion by Sleepy Joe Biden. But not anymore!"

Brown's ouster, which came despite furious warnings from analysts not to remove senior military officials, triggered an intense reaction from commenters on social media — many of whom speculated Trump wanted to get rid of Brown because he had been a champion of diversifying the military.

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"This is just awful," wrote former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul. "I have had the honor of working with and meeting many Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs over the decades. General CQ Brown was one the finest of them all, especially suited for the challenges of our current era of great power competition with China."

"Remember, they want to fire Gen. CQ Brown because he’s Black, and to them, minorities don’t earn their jobs," wrote journalist Kevin Baron. "He also supports a diverse military. Like every. Single. Other. Joint. Chief."

"We knew General CQ Brown’s days were numbered since Election Day - Trump simply was NOT going to sit next to a Black Joint Chief’s Chairman," wrote political strategist Drexel Heard.

"General CQ Brown, Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff, was just apparently 'fired' by Trump via a social media post by Trump," wrote Meidas Touch co-founder Ben Meiselas. "Just an hour ago General Brown posted this so it seems he wasn’t expecting Trump’s post firing him."

He shared a post from Brown on Friday afternoon, talking about his commitment to securing the border.

"President Trump just fired Joint Chiefs Chairman CQ Brown — no reason given," wrote former Joe Biden strategist Chris D. Jackson. "That’s another highly qualified African American official ousted, only to be replaced by a white guy. This is what 'America First' looks like? So sad."