WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 12: White House Chief of Staff John Kelly pauses during a daily news briefing at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House October 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. In a rare appearance at the news briefing Kelly stated he had no plans to resign or reason to believe he would be fired. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump‘s former chief of staff, John Kelly, has criticized his former boss’s character and ethics.
Kelly was on a live-stream interview with Anthony Scaramucci, the former White House communications director, when he was asked whether he agrees with the statement former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis released recently amid the nationwide protests over George Floyd’s death.
“I agree with him,” Kelly told Scaramucci.
“There is a concern, I think an awful big concern, that the partisanship has gotten out of hand, the tribal thing has gotten out of hand. He’s quite a man, Jim Mattis, and for him to do that tells you where he is relative to the concern he has for our country.”
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In Mattis’ statement, he said that Trump is the first president in his lifetime “who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try.”
“Instead, he tries to divide us,” Mattis said in a statement Wednesday. “We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.”
During the interview, Kelly also showed his personal take on his former boss and advised voters to be careful.
“I think we need to look harder at who we elect,” Kelly said. “I think we should look at people that are running for office and put them through the filter: What is their character like? What are their ethics?”
Regarding Trump’s recent use of force to clear Lafayette Square for the photo-op, Kelly said he “would’ve argued against it.”
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