It’s pretty evident that former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis struck a nerve when he denounced Donald Trump and called him a threat to the U.S. Constitution. Ever since, Trump has been ranting about the four-star general on Twitter.
On Thursday, the president continued his attacks, saying that he fired Mattis because he “was no good” for him.
“I did fire James Mattis,” Trump said. “He was no good for Obama, who fired him also, and was no good for me!”
The problem with asking for someone to give you a letter of resignation, which you do as a courtesy to help them save face, is that it is then harder to say you fired them. I did fire James Mattis. He was no good for Obama, who fired him also, and was no good for me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020
Trump’s former right-hand man pushes back
Trump using his Twitter account to attack one of his critics – even if it happens to be a four-star general – should surprise no one. It’s also not surprising that his tweets about Mattis have been strewn with outright lies.
What was pretty stunning, however, is that his former right-hand man – ex-White House chief of staff – John Kelly called him out for it.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Kelly called Mattis an “honorable man” and described the president’s twitter insults as “nasty.”
Kelly also fact-checked the president’s false claim that Mattis was fired by Trump.
“The president did not fire him. He did not ask for his resignation,” Kelly said, then seizing the opportunity to take a personal shot at Trump: “The president has clearly forgotten how it actually happened or is confused.”
As the country inches closer to the election, some of Donald Trump’s loudest critics are the folks who worked closely with him in the past – and it’s clearly driving the president nuts.
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