WorldNetDaily’s Bob Unruh groused in a July 15 article:
A stunning video has been posted online by an ousted U.S. Marine and current Florida congressional candidate who says President Donald J. Trump is the anti-Christ and must be killed.
The Marine Corps immediately confirmed it was “aware” of the statements by William Upham, “who was medically discharged” in 2025. The “comments made by Upham are a direct violation of the oath he swore to uphold and are not in keeping with the service’s values.”
Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao went further, stating, “Unacceptable. William Upham is no longer a Marine and does not represent our values or ethos.”
We remember when WND was tolerant of — and even encouraged — insubordination among former military people when a Democrat was president. As we documented, a December 2013 WND article hyped retired birther general Paul Vallely claiming calling for “millions of Americans to “stand up” to a federal government that is ‘conducting treason … violating the Constitution, violating our laws.’ He’s calling for marches, a legislative vote of “no confidence” in President Obama and congressional leaders, even citizen arrests.” This was followed a few days later by Unruh himself uncritically repeating a demand by another former military officer, Harry G. Riley, calling for a military coup against Obama:
“There is not much time and the only planning necessary is to select a starting date, which we have done, and then show up in Washington, D.C., on that date, and plan to stay for the duration. The goal is restoring the U.S. Constitution as the law of the land, removing the lawless leadership,” Riley explained.
“Will this be a cake-walk? No, it will be painful, and some people may die because the government will not be non-violent; some of us will end up in a cell, and some may be injured. If that’s what it will take to save our nation, do we have any choice? Freedom loving Americans will say there is no choice, we must begin the second American Revolution. Not with guns, but with millions of Americans demanding a return to constitutional government and the resignation of Obama, Biden, Reid, McConnell, Boehner, Pelosi, and Holder as a start…then the constitutional restoration process can begin.”
He urged “all organizations, groups, particularly veterans and military retirees, [to] begin planning to visit Washington, D.C., beginning May 16, 2014.”
Unruh didn’t mention Riley’s coup call in his article, let alone explain why he was virtuous and Upham is not.
WND has expressed similar hypocrisy before, calling for the punishment of Sen. Mark Kelly and others for stating the uncontroversial statement that military personnel are not required to follow illegal orders from their leaders, though it cheered the case of Terry Lakin, a military man who refused a lawful order because he decided that Obama failed to offer proof of citizenship.