White House chief of staff John Kelly on Wednesday slammed a California high school teacher who said members of the U.S. military are "the lowest of our low," saying the teacher "ought to go to hell."
A student in Gregory Salcido's history class at El Rancho High School captured a video of him ranting against the military, calling members of the armed forces "dumb shits" and denigrating their intellect.
"Think about the people you know who are over there," Salcido, a Pico Rivera city councilman, told his students. "Your freaking stupid Uncle Louie or whatever. They're dumb shits. They're not high-level thinkers; they're not academic people; they're not intellectual people. They're the lowest of our low."
Fox News radio host Brian Kilmeade read Kelly, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, some of the teacher's quotes and asked him for his reaction.
"I think the guy ought to go to hell," Kelly said. "I just hope he enjoys the liberties and the lifestyle that we have fought for."
Kilmeade said that Kelly went on to use expletives about the teacher that Fox could not air.
Salcido has been put on administrative leave by the school district, but there have been growing calls to fire the teacher. Over 15,000 people have signed a petition demanding that he be fired.