Two uniformed service members flanked Democratic officials from American Samoa as they cast their vote for Joe Biden to receive the presidential nomination.
It is not clear which Army unit the two junior enlisted soldiers belong to. American Samoa has a small military footprint, with no National Guard and no active duty Army deployment. The islands are home to a small Army Reserve Center that oversees several hundred reservists there.
Members of the military are allowed to publicly support political candidates and attend rallies, but must do so in their private time and never in uniform. An unnamed defense official told ABC News that the appearance of the two soldiers will raise questions as to how they ended up in the DNC feed, given the political restrictions covering all active and reserve troops.has contacted the DNC to request comment on who made the decision to have the troops in shot.Democrats have long criticized President Donald Trump and the GOP of using the military as a political prop to win votes.
Biden, meanwhile, plans to cut the U.S. military budget, which at $738 billion is larger than the next 10 highest spending nations combined. In this screenshot from the DNCC's livestream of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Chairman of the American Samoa Democratic Party Alitama Sotao addresses the virtual convention on August 18, 2020.
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