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Former US Secretary of Defense criticizes Trump 0:40
(CNN) - President Donald Trump faces an unprecedented revolt by the elite corps of former military leaders and presidents over his blatant response to mass protests and the swelling of racial divisions.
In what was a real bomb in Washington on Wednesday night, former Defense Secretary James Mattis, a warrior revered by his soldiers, told Americans they must unite without the president.
"Donald Trump is the first president in my life who is not trying to unite the American people, not even trying to try," said Mattis, who has been silent since his resignation in 2018.
Donald Trump and James Mattis.
Instead, it 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, ”the retired general said in a statement, criticizing Trump for threatening to deploy active duty soldiers to calm the unrest, in a blatant threat to US political stability.
The statement will be a severe blow to Trump, who although he later turned against his former defense secretary, idolizes the generals and loved to refer to Mattis as "Mad Dog".
LEE: The fierce criticism of former Defense Secretary Mattis against Trump: "We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership"
It is particularly extraordinary in that it seems to imply that a Trump order to deploy active-duty soldiers against protesters would be a violation of his constitutional oath. And since former high-ranking military officials remain very loyal to their comrades and remain connected to the Pentagon, one of the most political centers of power, the front opened by Mattis will spark speculation about whether he is communicating the thoughts of high-ranking officers in service that they cannot speak openly.
Trump's initial reaction was to discredit Mattis, who played combat roles in two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but who the president described on Twitter as "the most overrated general in the world."
But he noted that “its main force was not military, but personal public relations. I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he was rarely successful. I didn't like his 'leadership' style or much more about him, and many others agree. I'm glad he's gone! ”
Also Wednesday night, retired General John Allen, a former commander of US forces in Afghanistan, took his turn to attack Trump's response in a comment posted by Foreign Policy.
“It was not enough that the peaceful protesters had been deprived of their first amendment rights; This photo shoot sought to legitimize that abuse with a cloak of religion, ”Allen wrote.
He was referring to the order given Monday to federal security forces to withdraw protesters from Lafayette Square before the president left the White House to stand in front of Saint John's Church and hold a bible up high.
Allen ends up hoping that all of this will lead to a brighter America.
But, he points out, “it will have to come from below. Because there is nobody in the White House. "
The outbursts of Allen and Mattis, who is much more cerebral than his nickname may imply, intensified an increasingly broad front against Trump by established power elites in Washington outside of Republican Party congressmen. This comes after Jimmy Carter completed the list of living former presidents who have addressed the leadership vacuum left by Trump as the nation experiences massive protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a pandemic that has killed 107,000 Americans and a consequent crisis. economic.
Other high-ranking military and political figures, including former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, also felt compelled to speak as they perceive core American values threatened by an unleashed commander-in-chief.
No modern-day president has faced such a disgrace from his predecessors or from men that they have earned public respect in the heat of battle and served presidents of both parties.
The Trump presidency is now drawing closer to an existential crisis, five months before facing trial by voters after a campaign that threatens to tear social and racial wounds like never before during his turbulent term.
But Trump, who made a political career by attacking established power and setting fire to presidential rules, shows no sign of backing down. On Wednesday, he lashed out at "looters", "thugs" and "terrorists" who, he says, are behind the riots across the country. Meanwhile, his aides devised increasingly outrageous propaganda to justify his behavior, comparing his divisive gimmick in the Washington church to Winston Churchill in World War II and President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks.
Trump is now furious with current defense secretary Mark Esper, who spoke out against the president's threat to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to deploy soldiers on active duty within the United States.
READ: US Defense Secretary Mark Esper distances himself from Trump for wanting to use soldiers to quell protests in the US
The Pentagon chief stands on the thin political ice, as Trump's conservative media facilitators criticize him. An ally, Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, called for an "overwhelming show of force" in an opinion piece in The New York Times in defiance of "delusional" local leaders.
Wednesday brought another confusing whirlwind of grim images with soldiers in combat uniforms on the streets of Washington and more looting in New York, although most protests across the country were increasingly peaceful. There were also inspiring acts when the Capitol Police knelt before protesters and stories emerged of some white Americans who first perceived the prejudice experienced by their black compatriots.
There is a palpable sense that the country is at a key moment in its racial journey after Floyd's death last week with a policeman's knee to his neck, the latest sign of brutality towards blacks that has shocked everyone. races.
There was also a glimpse of the politics of hope, as former President Barack Obama hinted that the response to the tumultuous events of the past few days was not "domination" ordered by Trump but a new motivation to turn the protests into a significant political change. Obama also dismissed the idea that the United States has plunged into the misery of a 1968-style political and racial nightmare, noting that the multi-ethnic crowds of protesters crowding America's streets were themselves a sign of dynamic progress. .
“For those who have been talking about the protests, just remember, this country was founded on protests. It is known as the American Revolution, ”Obama said in a Zoom call with his youth organization, in an apparent indirect reference to Trump.
READ: Obama: "Let me go with the protesters, I want to be part of the solution"
"And every step of progress in this country, every expansion of freedom, every expression of our deepest ideals, has been earned through efforts that made the status quo uncomfortable. And we should all be grateful for the people who are willing, in a peaceful environment and in a disciplined way, to be out there making a difference, ”he added.
"Angry and horrified"
Mattis, a respected statesman soldier across political lines who is a hero to the men he led in Iraq and elsewhere, had vowed to stay out of politics by retiring. But his message made it clear that he could no longer remain silent after seeing a series of incidents that he said had left him "angry and horrified."
“We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who insist that we live up to our values, our values as individuals, and our values as a nation, ”Mattis wrote.
“When I joined the army, about 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution.
"I never dreamed that the soldiers who made that same oath would be ordered to violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens, much less to allow a strange photo shoot for the commander-in-chief-elect, with the military leadership at his side."
“Militarizing our response, as we saw in Washington, establishes a conflict - a false conflict - between civil and military society. It erodes the moral foundation that guarantees a bond of trust between men and women in uniform and the society they have sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part, ”Mattis wrote.
In another explosive passage, Mattis recalled instructions sent to American soldiers before breaking into Normandy beaches in 1944, implying that the President has more in common with America's deadly enemies than with the traditions of American democracy.
"The Nazi motto to destroy us ... was 'Divide and conquer.' Our American response is "In the Union is strength." We must convene that unit to overcome this crisis, trusting that we are better than our policy, "he wrote.
The former defense secretary also implicitly criticized Esper, who referred to America's cities as "battle space," a term he says he now regrets.
Is Esper in trouble?
Mattis's message appeared on another extraordinary day in which it became known that Esper could be on borrowed time after a press conference in which he said that soldiers on duty should be used as law enforcement officers only as a last resort.
"We are not in one of those situations right now," Esper told reporters. "I do not support invoking the Law of Insurrection."
His comments angered the White House, where several sources said he had already frustrated Trump.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that "until now, Secretary Esper remains Secretary Esper" in a show of no support for Sefensa's secretary.
If Esper pays his dissent with his job, he will become the last high-ranking official in the US. USA to whom this happens for prioritizing their duties regarding the rule of law or their perception of the US national interest. USA Trump demands total loyalty, despite his frequent assaults on power that threaten the constitutional railings of his office. That is why men like Mattis and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are no longer in the cabinet - and that Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are still serving the President.
Carter said Wednesday that "silence can be as deadly as violence" and called on Americans in positions of "power, privilege and moral conscience" to fight racial discrimination, in their first public reaction to the riots that surrounded the Floyd police murder.
Former Presidents Bush and Bill Clinton had previously released statements asking Americans to reflect on the country's racial scars and commit to building a new society.
Trump continued on Wednesday portraying protests across the country after Floyd's death as a radical uprising, while pushing his tough electoral issue of "law and order."
The president tweeted that if people looked at the media coverage they would think that "murderers, terrorists, arsonists, anarchists, thugs, looters, ANTIFA and others, they would be the most beautiful and friendly people in the entire world. No, they are what they are, very bad for our country! ”
But the most important statement of the day came from a former general who could have the greatest ability of any Washington elite to undermine Trump in the face of the army under his command.
James Mattis
