James Mattis and Rex Tillerson both publicly distance themselves from Donald Trump
In recent weeks Donald Trump has gone so offensively and embarrassingly off the rails, even by his own bottom-feeding standards, that numerous public figures have begun distancing themselves from him. Now it turns out two of the people publicly distancing themselves from Trump are his own Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State, in a development never before seen in the modern era.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace today, and at one point he was asked about the United Nations issuing a warning about the United States in response to Trump’s racist stance on the Charlottesville attack. Tillerson replied “I don’t believe anyone doubts the American people’s values.” That led Wallace to ask about Trump’s values. Tillerson’s response: “The President speaks for himself.” It may have been a polite rebuke by regular standards. But when it comes to a cabinet member openly distancing himself from the president he serves, those words are downright scandalous. He wasn’t the only one to speak up.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis was speaking to a group of active duty military members this week when he told them “You just hold the line until our country gets back to understanding and respecting each other and showing it” (link). This was a veiled but clear swipe at Donald Trump over his support for the white supremacists in Charlottesville.
The video of Mattis reveals that multiple military members had their phones out and were video recording him, so he knew his words were going to be seen and heard by the public. This means that two of the top members of Donald Trump’s cabinet are now publicly distancing themselves from him. This comes shortly after one of his own top advisers, Gary Cohn, did the same. The bigger question may be why none of these people are resigning on principle.
