In an extraordinary rebuke, former defense secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday denounced President Donald Trump’s heavy-handed use of military force to quell protests near the White House and said his former boss was setting up a “false conflict” between the military and civilian society.
“I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled,” Mattis wrote.
The criticism was all the more remarkable because Mattis has generally kept a low profile since retiring as defense secretary in December 2018 to protest Trump’s Syria policy. He had declined to speak out against Trump, saying he owed the nation public silence while his former boss remained in office.
But he’s speaking out after this past week’s protests in response to the death of George Floyd in police custody.
Mattis had a scathing description of Trump’s walk to a historic nearby church Monday to pose with a Bible after law enforcement forcibly cleared Lafayette Square of mostly peaceful protesters.
…His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations. I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom “brought home the bacon”. I didn’t like his “leadership” style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020
He said he never dreamed troops “would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens — much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.”
“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people —does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us,” Mattis wrote in a statement published by The Atlantic. “We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.”
Mattis called on Americans to unite without Trump. “This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children,” he wrote.
Mattis said of the protesters that Americans should not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. He said they are rightly demanding that the country follow the words of “Equal Justice Under Law” that are on display at the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values — our values as people and our values as a nation,” Mattis said.
Mattis took particular issue with the use of force to move back protesters so Trump could visit St. John’s Church the day after it was damaged by fire during protests.
“We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution,” Mattis said.
One day after Trump announced he was pulling all U.S. troops out of Syria, where they were partnering with local Syrians to fight the Islamic State, Mattis tried but failed to change Trump’s mind. So, he resigned. Trump soon turned on Mattis, calling him a failure. He said falsely that he had fired Mattis.
“What’s he done for me?” Trump said January 2. “How had he done in Afghanistan? Not too good. I’m not happy with what he’s done in Afghanistan, and I shouldn’t be happy.”
(AP)
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10 Responses
thats why hes a madd dog and trump is the president, nobody listens to dogs barking. trumo needs to get up and get law and order on this country once and for all
1) Trump didn’t fire Mattis
2) Obama didn’t fire Mattis
3) Mattis had the Mad Dog nickname way before Trump
4) Gen. Mattis served his country honorably
5) Trump is a draft dodger
To chu bacha: Mad Dog Mattis (he does not like the name, but it’s easy to remember) spent most of his life serving his country. Trump spent his life serving himself (and not very well, but that’s another story). I believe Mad Dog is getting this right.
Mattis is a libtard demonrat homosexual.
General Mattis is a true American hero speaking truth to power. Hopefully more of those who left this most corrupt administration will speak out.
Half of the Trumpkopf’s original most senior national security advisors, each of whom he called the “best of the best” or the “most outstanding xxx” when he appointed them have resigned or left in disgust. All have characterized the Trumpkpf as a lunatic, narcissistic, ill-informed and despotic etc. I suspect the current secretary of defense will be gone by the weekend, adding to the list.
Only a mad dog would attack his boss (master). Like any mad dog maybe the general needs some rabid shots.
Mattis says – “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people —does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us.”
Unfortunately, Mattis doesn’t know what he is talking about.
The first president who did NOT try to unite the American people (and STILL doesn’t) is OBAMA.
When there was racial unrest in his time in office, he fanned the flames of violence with his proclamation, “If I had a son he would look like Travon.”
Just yesterday, in a speech, he told the crowd that they should make “the people in power feel uncomfortable” – That is NOT a uniter.
People voted for Obama because they mistakenly thought that as a former community organizer, he would help resolve racial tensions.
He was a great disappointment…and based on yesterday’s speech, he still is.
I don’t like his political statements, but Mattis is a better person and a better leader than Trump. When Trump was called to war, he chickened out with a made up medical condition. Mattis, on the other hand, dedicated his life to the defense of this country. He lead from the front. He was known as the “Warrior Monk” due to his extensive study and knowledge of warfare. He landed at FOB Rhino with the first troops in Afghanistan, and spent every day and night literally in the trenches with his men, keeping their morale up and ensuring they knew their jobs for the coming battles. He was universally loved by the men who served under him and those who served with him. He isn’t a serial liar, isn’t a vilde chaya in his personal life, and doesn’t constantly go around being nasty to people and lying about them.
If you support a mushchis who happens to be president over an honorable Marine Corps general who served his country for his whole life, consider that you might not be having a political argument, but rather might be part of a cult of personality. Not to say Trump is a bad president, or that Mattis isn’t wrong here. But just in terms of who is a better person and better American? Gen. Mattis is, by a landslide.
NOYB, the mushchis happens to be right and the hero is wrong.