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Is Donald Trump planning a coup? Anonymous makes alarming allegation as POTUS fires top Pentagon officials

The firing of Mark Esper by President Donald Trump has been followed by a slew of top-level resignations in the Pentagon

Things are getting stranger by the day under President Trump's administration, or so it seems. Social media is abuzz with speculations of what might happen next after the firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper which has now been followed by the resignations of other top officials overseeing policy, intelligence, and the defense secretary’s staff by the end of Tuesday, November 10.

It should be noted that Esper has been replaced by Christopher Miller and is now the Acting Secretary of Defense. Miller also serves as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center since August 6, 2020.

Other resignations and replacements include James Anderson, acting undersecretary for policy, replaced by the controversial Anthony Tata. Joseph Kernan, the undersecretary for intelligence, replaced by Ezra Cohen-Watnick. Also, Miller brought in his own chief of staff, Kash Patel, to replace Jen Stewart. The new appointees, according to an article by Politico "are fiercely loyal to Trump and have trafficked in 'deep state' conspiracy theories."

Ryan Browne, CNN’s National Security Reporter, tweeted, "Pentagon finally confirms near-total decapitation of civilian leadership in the last 24 hours. Secretary of Defense Esper fired Monday, the top Pentagon Policy official, top Defense Department intelligence official, and chief of staff to the Defense Secretary all out today."

He followed up the above tweet saying, "Senior civilians so far not affected by the recent purge include the Deputy Secretary of Defense Norquist and the Service Secretaries."

Stephen Ackerman, National Security reporter for The Daily Beast, tweeted, "Everyone I’ve talked to who knows Chris Miller, the just-installed acting secretary of defense, has high regard for his integrity. If they’re right, perhaps he's there as reputational cover for the elevations of Islamophobic bigot Anthony Tata and Devin Nunes aide Kash Patel."

This was followed by a statement of Muslim advocates saying, "Here are Muslim Advocates on Tata, who today took over the Pentagon policy directorate, the job the Senate Armed Services Committee would not confirm him for." He then tweeted, "And the Pentagon just made Michael Flynn aide Ezra Cohen-Watnick acting undersecretary for intelligence."

These moves by Trump have only caused more fear after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's statement: "There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration." Pompeo then said, "We're ready. The world is watching what's taking place. We're gonna count all the votes. When the process is complete, there'll be electors selected. There's a process. The Constitution lays it out pretty clearly. The world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure that the State Department is functional today...and successful with a president who's in the office on January 20, a minute afternoon, will also be successful."

The @YourAnonCentral handle on Twitter wrote, "#US: The Trump regime is currently removing civilian leadership from the Pentagon and replacing key positions with Trump loyalists, in a move feared to be a precursor to a coup d'etat in the United States," followed by, "Earlier: US Secretary of State Pompeo on the 2020 US election results: 'There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.'"

The Anonymous handle then reported about Pompeo's latest statements tweeting, "Just Now: US Secretary of State Pompeo semi-walked back his statement, doesn't confirm if he was joking, says: "We'll have a smooth transition and we'll see what the people ultimately decide when all the votes have been cast." Proceeds to gaslight about Obama to change the subject."

It continued writing, "Trump's actions are alarming and present a test to the U.S. on the limit of presidential powers. Everyone should be vigilant and on top of their Senators and Representatives to monitor and check the current Trump administration for the next weeks to ensure a peaceful transition."

Reactions

Spanish politician Alfons López Tena, accusing Trump of prepping not to leave office, tweeted, "Trump is laying the groundwork to steal the election and establish his corrupt autocracy. His frenzied followers support it, the majority of Americans aren’t aware of and sleepwalk into it. Like it happened in Russia, Turkey, India, Hungary, Poland."

Journalist Max Berger sarcastically wrote, "Haha, oh man, did you hear the hilarious joke about how the President of the United States, who refuses to accept the results of the election, just "decapitated the civilian leadership of the pentagon?" So funny!" and continued, "The follow-up is even better: the Secretary of State, Attorney General, and all Senators from his party continue to question the results! Genuinely hilarious stuff. Really good jokes that no one should be worried about or take seriously!"

Comedian and actress Sarah Silverman tweeted, "Coup brewing? This sh*t's scary. Someone explain?" while a Twitter user, expressing similar sentiments, said, "This feels like a thing that should get equal attention — and no small association — with the statements that Barr, McConnell, and Pompeo are making." A different user said, "WTF is going on? This is not normal. Trump appears to be consolidating military power around him."

A Trump supporter said that the claims of a coup are overblown and tweeted, "Decapitation? Really? He has fired people for the last 4 years...and the people who worked for the senior people often went as well. He is the President no matter what until 1/20/21. He gets to choose who serves in those posts! #MSM stop acting like it's a coup."

Politico, in a new report, quoted House Armed Services Chair Adam Smith saying, "It is hard to overstate just how dangerous high-level turnover at the Department of Defense is during a period of the presidential transition. If this is the beginning of a trend — the President either firing or forcing out national security professionals in order to replace them with people perceived as more loyal to him — then the next 70 days will be precarious at best and downright dangerous at worst."