Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on Thursday came to former Defense Secretary James Mattis’ defense after President Trump slammed the four-star general as an “overrated” military leader whom he relished firing.
Gen. Mattis — a member of a group Mr. Trump once described as “my generals” — eviscerated the commander in chief one day earlier, saying the U.S. has suffered through “three years without mature leadership” and is dealing with a president who actively tries to divide the American people.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Mr. Kelly insisted the president did not fire Gen. Mattis, who resigned in late 2018 after clashing with the president over U.S. policy in Syria.
“He did not ask for his resignation,” Mr. Kelly said. “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,” Kelly continued. “Then he got nasty. Jim Mattis is an honorable man.
In a lengthy, stunningly blunt statement to The Atlantic, Gen. Mattis said that “militarizing” the federal response to protests across the country is dangerous and wrong, and erodes public trust in the armed forces. Massive demonstrations have taken place following the death last week of George Floyd, a black man, during a confrontation with Minneapolis police.
Mr. Trump quickly fired back at his former Pentagon chief’s comments and tweeted, “Probably the only thing Barack Obama and I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world’s most overrated General.”
Mr. Kelly was also ousted from both the Obama and Trump administrations.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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