CNN anchor Carol Costello claimed Tuesday that top U.S. military personal oppose describing terrorists as "radical Islamic jihadists" during a discussion on the recent attacks in Germany and Turkey.
"Early on Donald Trump labeled this attack in Berlin and the attacks in other places as a result of radical Islamic jihadists," Costello said. "As you know, many U.S. generals have warned against using that term, but many of Trump's supporters say it's about time someone called it like it is."
Costello was discussing the attack against a Christmas market in Berlin and the assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey, both of which occurred on Monday.
Obama administration officials have previously stated that the language used to describe terrorists does not impact America's ability to fight them. Eric Holder, former attorney general under President Obama, said last year that terminology plays no role in the fight against terror, BuzzFeed reported at the time.
"It doesn't have any impact on our military posture. It doesn't have any impact on what we call it on the policies that we put in place," [Holder] said. "What we have to do is defined not by the terms that we use, but by the facts on the ground. So I don't worry an awful lot about what the appropriate terminology ought to be. I think that people need to actually think about that and think about really, are we having this conversation about words as opposed to what our actions ought to be?"