By Ebony Bowden, NY POST
WASHINGTON — Former Defense Secretary James Mattis unloaded on President Trump in an opinion piece, accusing him of abusing the powers of his office and of trying to divide the American people as the nation reels from the death of George Floyd.
“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try,” Mattis wrote in the op-ed published by The Atlantic on Wednesday.
“Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership,” he continued.
Mattis, a decorated Marine general who resigned as defense secretary in December 2018 in protest of Trump’s Syria policy, said he was horrified by the show of force outside the White House on Monday evening — calling it an abuse of power.
Mattis, whose nickname is “Mad Dog,” previously declined to speak out against Trump, saying he wanted to be silent while his former boss remained in office, making the stinging criticism all the more notable.
“I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled,” Mattis wrote, announcing he supported the “wholesome and unifying” demands of demonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd across the nation this week.
SEE ALSOTrump says he had the ‘honor’ of firing James Mattis
“When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution,” he continued.
“Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath 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.”
The decorated soldier called on Americans to reject Trump’s calls for cities to be “dominated” by the National Guard — a sentiment shared by current Defense Secretary Mark Esper who announced earlier Wednesday that he opposed the use of military to arrest protests and violence.
Mattis accused Trump of abusing the powers of his office after forces fired smoke canisters and pepper balls on protesters at Lafayette Park outside the White House on Monday evening.
SEE ALSO<
Defense Secretary opposes Trump on use of military in riots
“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.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters Wednesday that the order to clear protesters came from Attorney General William Barr, and not the president.
Mattis also went on to criticize Esper and other administration officials, writing, “We must reject any thinking of our cities as a ‘battlespace’ that our uniformed military is called upon to ‘dominate.’ At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors.
“Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict– a false conflict—between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them.”
And he goes so far as to mention Nazi ideology in his rebuke of the president.
“Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that ‘The Nazi slogan for destroying us … was “Divide and Conquer.” Our American answer is “In Union there is Strength.”’ We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis—confident that we are better than our politics,” Mattis wrote.
Here’s the next RINO that needs to be shown the door:
“Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday ordered National Guard troops in Washington, DC, to disarm and wear soft caps instead of helmets, an official told Breitbart News on Friday afternoon.
The official said the president told Attorney General Bill Barr that he wanted the National Guard to be armed so that they could protect themselves from rioters and looters coming in to the city, but Esper on his own told the D.C. National Guard leadership to take the weapons of National Guardsmen who were coming in from other states.
“He’s not really on board with what the president is trying to do,” the official said.”
— https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/06/06/defense-secretary-mark-esper-orders-national-guard-in-d-c-to-disarm-wear-soft-caps-instead-of-helmets/
@ Sebastien Zorn:
HI, Sebastian
I would not want to be Secretary Esper right now; and if I were, I would be contacting friends to prepare a net for me to jump into when I get pushed out. That’s just a gut feeling, of course — maybe from reading too much about Henry VIII and his daughters.
My immediate take on Esper is that he happened to be the most available person in Washington aka Deep State circles, to replace the revolving-door Army and Defense secretariats. I would not be surprized, concerning Mark or anyone from several layers of cronies around him, to be deeply involved in Deep State, globalist plotting; but giving him the benefit of the doubt, I would say that he is not someone the President can be confident in. He makes me think of someone who has an antenna in his head to try to measure what the POTUS is thinking, because his heart is so very much in a different place.
@ Michael S:
No probably about it. How dare this guy challenge and demean his Commander in Chief publicly. Truman justifiably fired an actually great general, General Douglas McCarthur, for such an irresponsible stunt. I’ve been impatiently waiting for Trump to say those two little words that made him so famous as a reality show celebrity, “You’re Fired!”
@ Marsha .roseman:
To your list of RINO generals, you probably should add Lt. Col. Mark Esper.
By nature or the military’s promotion system, high-ranking officers are necessarily “deep state”-type sycophants — and with billions of dollars of contracts floating around them, they are targets for corruption.
@ linda goudsmit:
I think that Gen Mattis should receive the John McCain award for best effort to subvert the national interests of the nation due to his dislike for the president.
Mathis went way over board in his comments about Trump.
I say that calling out the National Guard plus coordinating State and Local Police in a joint action should be able to quash what is going on at this point.
National Guard are trained in riot control just as the police are. They just need to act. Most cities have taken back control of their streets. Not NYC however as no National Guard is present and the Mayor’s son joined Antifa and he is no friend of law and order but just disorder. NYC Police have said they have lost control. Over 200 plus NYPD officers have been injured. I believe two shot yesterday and third also hurt in Brooklyn. National Guard needs to be sent in NYC today! Leadership needs to be changed now to take control back of the city.
Military and Shore Police are trained in riot control also and if needed could help.
Calling Combat troops for riots will escalate things as they will likely kill people and things may get better not worse. If there were squads of Antifa with M16s or hand-grenades running around cities then call up the military and invoke the Insurrection Act. Right now that is not the case they are trying to stir up riots.
Investigate who the leaders are throw them in prison with unmanageable bail or no bail plus confiscate their property.
Going over board and killing people like at Kent State in the 1960s will cause a backlash. Trump I think now realizes this. Secretary of Defense Espy did not to invoke the Insurrection Act likely for the same reasons as I am saying.
Excellent comment Ms. Goudsmit. Of the 4 Generals only Flynn has proven to be USA first. Gone are Mattis, McMaster, and Kelly. Of interest is the last 2 Republican President nominees Romney and McCain hated Trump. Trump is a true revolutionary in line with the common man.b>@ linda goudsmit:
@ linda goudsmit:
Mattis was also connected to Soros.
Mattis was fired because he is a globalist and not an America-first general. Mattis is the hero of the Democrats because he is a globalist and not an America-first general. The Democrats and their globalist handlers are gleeful that America is burning because they think that riots will defeat America-first President Trump in November. Lockdowns and anarchy are tactical weapons in the globalist/Democrat war against America. Wake up America! Your streets are burning because anarchists are being paid to burn them and Democrat leaders are deliberately standing down to allow it. The 2020 presidential election is not about one man – it is about our national sovereignty. This election will determine whether our country remains a sovereign constitutional republic led by America-first President Trump, or becomes a cog in the globalist wheel of a one-world government led by the globalist elite under the auspices of the corrupt United Nations. Be careful who you vote for – your freedom is at stake!