Megyn Kelly grills Clinton-backing 4-star general: How can he 'support her for commander in chief?'

On Tuesday's Kelly File, Megyn Kelly had former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on to make the case for Donald Trump, and retired Marine Gen. John Allen — former head of U.S. Central Command — on to discuss why he's supporting Hillary Clinton. If you get to choose between the two as your public advocate, go with Allen.

"I want to ask you, because it is extraordinary to see a general like you come out and get political, what made you do it?" Kelly asked, after playing part of a new Clinton campaign ad starring Allen. The four-star general said he felt it necessary to express his "very clear support for the person I believe utterly should be the next commander in chief." Let's talk about that, Kelly said. Clinton "does have a foreign policy record — unlike Trump," she added, "and it's not... it's far from perfect, let's put it that way."

Clinton supported the Libya intervention, the Iran nuclear deal, "and certainly she underestimated the security threat in Benghazi," Kelly said. "So how can you, as a general serving in the positions you have, support her for commander in chief?" Allen said Clinton "has responded to many of those concerns, particularly Benghazi," and from his many interactions with her in Afghanistan and the Situation Room, "she's calm, she understands international relations, she understands that the influence of America is best exerted through our relationships overseas and through our alliances and parterships."

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"But what about Trump and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin?" Kelly asked. "You know, he says he understands that too." Putin is watching this election "very, very closely, Megyn," Allen said, "and when one of the two principal candidates for the president of the United States in fact cheerleads the dissolution of the EU or would talk about not being willing to honor Article 5 of the NATO charter, we've got some real reason for Putin to want to see a particular individual in the Oval Office."

Kelly asked if Putin, a "former KGB guy," is studying Clinton and Trump, and Allen said "there's no question about that. They've got the voice prints, they can tell when someone is agitated, they can tell when someone is angry, they can tell when someone is telling the truth or not telling the truth, and all of this is to ensure that in a crisis, they can push the buttons they think they need to for that crisis to go their way." Peter Weber