It would be nice if just one of the shits was remotely qualified...

'I'm sure it hurts to lose your position': Kellyanne Conway swats at ousted Navy secretary

The White House hits back after Richard Spencer told CBS that Trump did not understand "the full definition of a warfighter."

By QUINT FORGEY

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Tuesday fired back at ousted Navy Secretary Richard Spencer for remarks the former administration official made in an interview that were critical of President Donald Trump's intervention in the military justice system.

"I'm sure it hurts to lose your position, but the president stands by his decision, and he was there," Conway told the hosts of "Fox & Friends."

Spencer was forced out of his post Sunday amid a controversy over Trump's interference in the case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who was acquitted in July of killing a wounded teenage prisoner of war in Iraq but was convicted of posing with the corpse and demoted.

Trump earlier this month restored Gallagher’s rank of chief petty officer, and has sought to ensure that Gallagher maintains his SEAL status following reports that the top admiral responsible for the elite commando force was convening a board that would consider ejecting him.

"He didn't do this impulsively or gingerly. He did this after a full review," Conway said of the president.

Spencer resigned at Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s request after attempting to broker a private compromise with the White House that would have allowed both for Gallagher to retire as a SEAL and for the review board process to move forward, according to the Pentagon.

"Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, also, he fired him by saying, 'Excuse me, you can't try to make back deals and side deals on matters such as this,'" Conway said Tuesday.

The comments from the senior White House aide came after Spencer's appearance Monday evening on CBS News, during which he asserted that Trump did not understand "the full definition of a warfighter" and chastised the president for meddling in the Gallagher case.

"What message does that send to the troops? That you can get away with this," he told CBS. "We have to have good order and discipline. It is the backbone of what we do."