After long silence, Mattis denounces Trump and military response to crisis

After long refusing to explicitly criticize a sitting president, former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis accused President Donald Trump on Wednesday of trying to divide America and roundly denounced a militarization of the U.S. response to civil unrest.

The remarks by Mattis, an influential retired Marine general who resigned over policy differences in 2018, are the strongest to date by a former Pentagon leader over Trump’s response to the killing of George Floyd, an African-American, while in Minneapolis police custody.

They accompany a growing affirmation from within the Pentagon’s leadership of the U.S. military’s core values, including to uphold a constitution that protects freedom of assembly and the principles of equality.

“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, who resigned as Trump’s defense secretary in 2018, wrote in a statement published by The Atlantic.

“Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort.”

Trump has turned to militaristic rhetoric in response to demonstrations against police brutality following Floyd’s killing by a white police officer, who knelt on the unarmed man’s neck for almost nine minutes in Minneapolis last week.

“Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict — a false conflict — between the military and civilian society,” Mattis wrote.

Trump reacted on Twitter by calling Mattis “the world’s most overrated General!”

“I didn’t like his ‘leadership’ style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone!” Trump wrote.

A prominent figure in military circles, Mattis’s strong words could inspire others in uniform and veterans to speak out. They are particularly surprising given his extreme reluctance to criticize Trump in scores of interviews and appearances since he left office over policy differences with the U.S. president.

His comments follow denunciations by other retired top brass, including Navy admiral Mike Mullen and retired Army general Martin Dempsey, both former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.