Donald Trump’s campaign spokesman Steven Cheung has criticized retired US Army General Mark Milley after it was reported that he described the former president as “fascist to the core.”

Milley’s comment was reported by The independent and other media outlets after it was included in legendary journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, War.

“He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so on, but now I realize he is a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person for this country,” said Milley, who was named by Trump nominated as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2018 and served in the role from 2019 to 2023, Woodward was reportedly told.

Cheung said Newsweek via email on Saturday morning that Milley is a “woke train wreck,” describing Woodward as a “washed-up fiction writer.”

“Woke trainwreck Mark Milley clearly suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome and it is no surprise that he associates with a washed-up fiction writer like Bob Woodward to spread lies and misinformation,” Cheung said. “If Milley had put so much time and effort into his work, the Afghanistan debacle might never have happened.”

Newsweek Late Saturday morning, he contacted Georgetown University, where Milley is a distinguished fellow in residence, via email for comment.

Cheung was referring to the 13 U.S. service members who died during the withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan in 2021. In late August that year, a suicide bomber attacked Kabul airport as U.S. troops and Afghans desperately tried to evacuate the country. In addition to the thirteen American soldiers, more than 170 Afghans were killed. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Although the Pentagon concluded that the Kabul airport deaths were unpreventable, some blamed the Biden administration for a chaotic evacuation that should have started earlier.

Cheung’s comments echoed Trump’s previous comments on social media. In September 2023, Trump said Milley “presided over perhaps the most embarrassing moment in American history with his grossly incompetent implementation of the withdrawal from Afghanistan,” adding that “this man turned out to be a Woke train wreck.”

In August 2022, journalists Susan Glasser and Peter Baker shared an excerpt from their then published book The distributor in The New Yorkerwhich included a reportedly never-sent draft of a resignation letter from Milley to Trump.

The draft letter was dated June 8, 2020, a week after police used tear gas and batons to clear Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters and journalists so Trump could take a photo in Lafayette Square in Washington, DC. Milley was there that day. and then apologized for his role in it.

“The events of the past few weeks have caused me to do some soul-searching, and I can no longer faithfully support and carry out your orders as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I believe that you have caused great and irreparable damage. to my country,” Milley reportedly wrote in the draft of the resignation letter. “I believe that over time you have made a concerted effort to politicize the United States military. I thought I could change that. I’ve come to the realization that I can’t do that, and I have to step aside and let someone else try to do that.”

Milley reportedly mentioned fascism in the draft letter when naming the greatest generation to fight in World War II.

“That generation, like every generation, has fought against that, has fought against fascism, has fought against Nazism, has fought against extremism… you (Trump) subscribe to many of the principles that we have fought against. And I can’t compete with this. It is with great regret that I hereby submit my letter of resignation,” Milley reportedly wrote.

During Milley’s retirement speech in September 2023, he said military personnel “don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator” but to the U.S. Constitution. Milley did not say Trump’s name, but it seemed to be a veiled reference to him.

Trump called Milley “slow and slow-thinking” on social media after the general’s apparent “wannabe dictator” dig.

Meanwhile, Fox News reported Saturday that 15 Medal of Honor recipients, who served in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, have endorsed Trump for president.

“We believe in our commitment to the United States Constitution and our solemn oath to protect it,” the recipients said in part. “We believe in Donald Trump.”

Update 12/24/10, 11:39 AM ET: This article has been updated with additional information. The headline of this article has also been changed.

Update 12/24/10, 12:58 PM ET: This article has been updated with additional information.