On Wednesday, asked by Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade what he thought of the California high school teacher who told his students that members of the military were the “lowest of the low,” White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, a U.S. Marine Corps general who served as commander of the U.S. Southern Command, snapped, “I think the guy ought to go to hell. I just hope he enjoys the liberties and the lifestyle that we have fought for.”
Kelly was appearing on Kilmeade’s show for Fox News radio when Kilmeade played him the tape of high school government teacher Gregory Salcido, from Pico Rivera, California, who went ballistic after one of his students wore a sweatshirt that read “Marine Corps” to his class. Salcido ranted:
We got a bunch of dumbs***s over there. Think about the people you know who are over there. They’re your freaking stupid Uncle Louie or whatever. They’re dumbs***s. They’re not high level bankers; they’re not academic people; they’re not intellectual people. They’re the freaking lowest of our low.
Salcido also compared military recruiters to pimps; he was later placed on administrative leave.
According to the Orange County Register, in May 2012, Salcido was put on paid administrative leave after the Sheriff’s Department received a complaint that he struck a student. In July 2010, a parent complained that Salcido had threatened his daughter, made inappropriate comments to his summer school class about race and insulted other students and parents, which Salcido denied.