Donald Trump’s attacks against former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis drew a fact-check from General John Kelly during an interview.
Mattis is a highly respected Marine Corps general who recently criticized Trump’s threat to use military force against Americans protesting racial injustice and police brutality. Mattis also slammed Trump for failing to unite the country during a time of crisis.
And so, Trump lashed out at Mattis on Twitter in response.
Probably the only thing Barack Obama & I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world’s most overrated General. I asked for his letter of resignation, & felt great about it. His nickname was “Chaos”, which I didn’t like, & changed to “Mad Dog”…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020
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…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
The problem is that Trump is lying, which is why Kelly, who also served as Trump’s chief of staff, fact-checked him.
“The president did not fire him,” Kelly said. “He did not ask for his resignation. The president has clearly forgotten how it actually happened or is confused. The president tweeted a very positive tweet about Jim until he started to see on Fox News their interpretation of his letter. Then he got nasty. Jim Mattis is a honorable man.”
Indeed, Mattis resigned in protest of Trump’s decision to withdraw American forces from Syria, abandoning our Kurdish allies, letting Russia gain more control in the region and sparking a resurgence of ISIS forces.
“Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position,” Mattis wrote in his letter. “The end date for my tenure is February 28, 2019, a date that should allow sufficient time for a successor to be nominated and confirmed…”
In short, Trump did not fire Mattis. Mattis resigned on his own, embarrassing Trump on his way out.
It also turns out that Trump lied about where Mattis got his nickname
“That nickname was given to me by the press, and some of you may have experienced similar occasions with the press where perhaps they didn’t get it quite right,” Mattis said in 2017.
Mattis and Kelly have been criticized over many things, especially since they were part of Trump’s administration. But they’ve clearly had enough of his bullsh*t and are speaking up. Better late than never, I suppose.
Featured image via screen capture
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