>> Former defense secretary Jim Mad Dog Mattis was recently giving a keynote speech.
And while he has avoided taking jabs at Donald Trump, this speech did include a few of those
jobs that we've been waiting for.
Now people are not happy about it, but I want to show you this video and then we'll discuss
>> I do stand before you as was noted here really having achieved greatness.
I mean, I'm not just an overrated general, I am the greatest, the world's most overrated.
>> I'm honored to be considered that by Donald Trump because he also called Meryl Streep
an overrated actress.
>> So I guess I'm the Meryl Streep of generals.
>> And frankly, that sounds pretty good to me.
>> And you do have to admit that between me and Meryl at least we've had some victories.
>> And some of you were kind during the reception and asked me if this bothered me to have been
rated this way, based on what Donald Trump said, and of course not.
I earned my spurs on the battlefield, Martin, as you pointed out, and Donald Trump earned
his spurs in a letter from a doctor.
>> Now, some people are unhappy about those comments.
They feel it was distasteful and that he shouldn't be joking around about things like this.
But I love the drama and it reminds me that we should appreciate new episodes of As the
White House Turns.
>> Some very big mistakes I asked for his resignation.
I'm disapointed in the Attorney General.
>> What I wanted to say is that what can I say?
I saw Mad Dog or General Mattis live.
I was in DC recently like I was telling you about at the Atlantic festival.
And he was right in front of me and he refused to criticize Trump.
And now he's doing so.
And for me what's problematic here isn't that he's taking little dumb, jokey slams at Trump.
It's that he refuses to articulate what is flawed about Trump's policies and what he
stands for.
Because what Mattis has stood for for a very long time, like many of our generals is an
old school, again, colonial and imperialist invasion mentality, right?
And so somehow that is supposed to be better because it's implicit and because you can
just be popular these days by making fun of Trump.
But what I want, and what progressives want, and what actually the American people want,
every poll says this is an articulated, clear global strategy based on principles and multilateralism
and lowering any incidences of war and armed conflict.
>> Yeah, look the reality is that American people both on the left wing, the right wing
and in the middle do wanna withdraw from the Middle East.
>> Exactly.
>> So that's part of the reason that Donald Trump won, because he had that populist message
that resonated, whereas Hillary Clinton and almost all the rest of the establishment was
for perpetual war.
And so, look he's, I was about to say performing because they do actually they're supposed
to make jokes at this thing.
It's called the Alfred E Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York, it happens every year.
They all get dressed up in tuxes, usually the president goes.
And they're supposed to make jokes about one another and self-effacing jokes and so on.
I get the congeniality and I think there's value in that.
On the other hand, every time I see it, it bothers me.
It feels and is elitist.
And so it's a bunch of elitists that get together and lightly rib each other while the war machine
and the profit machines continue.
And so Republicans and Democrats, generals and former cops as you see in the background
and etc all of the powerful get together.
And it's sometimes it feels like they're making fun of us.
And so if you're a Trump supporter, that felt like they were making fun of you or you're
the guy you like, but hey, you're not alone.
They do that to the left all the time far more.
Now, at the same time, I have to say, I like the jokes.
>> Yeah.
>> Can jump in because I have, I think, a different perspective.
I actually think, first off, we all know that Donald Trump has held a grudge against Obama
over Obama's roast of Trump, right?
So this type of stuff really gets under his skin.
He starts to unravel as a result of that.
But more importantly, the reason why I don't have a problem with Mattis going after Trump
in this jokey context is because it makes Trump look weak.
And that is the only way that you can make people turn on him.
Because what what do people love about Donald Trump?
He positioned himself as like this strong aggressive fighter.
He's a businessman.
He knows how to make deals and, and he's willing to fight for you.
He's gonna stand up to Chinese.
But in reality, I mean, it's all it's all facade and all you need is someone to note
the bone spurs.
Note the fact that he dodged the draft.
Note the fact that he's weak, that he cowers when it comes to actual strong men.
So that's why I like it.
I don't know How effective it's actually gonna be.
But who knows, maybe this is gonna open the door to more and more criticism that Trump
has deserved for a long time now.
>> Trump, in a hypocritical manner voiced a feeling that many of us have, that folks
like Jim Mattis and all these other one percenters that are at this gathering don't care about
us.
And that's true.
Trump is a hypocrite.
And so it's funny to make fun of him for these guys to do it.
Who's left out?
Everybody else.
Who's left out, the American people.
Who's left out, people who actually want the budget to be in the image of their values
and their and their priorities, education, health care and so on.
We are all left out by these Soirees.
>> Yeah, definitely.
I mean the soiree itself, I have no love for it.
>> Yeah.
>> But in commenting about the actual statements made in the jokes, I like them because they
specifically make Trump look weak because that's what he is.
>> Yeah, so look, I'll double down on liking the jokes.
Especially the Meryl Streep thing, I like that the now that instantly becomes a thing,
right?
Like I immediately wanted to call myself the Meryl Streep of talk show hosts.
And I agree with Anna that I love that he brought up that he ran from the Vietnam war
by pretending to have bone spurs.
It's one of my favorite things is when a reporter asked him, which foot was your bone in?
And he said, I don't know.
Maybe both.
What a joke, what a joke he is, okay.
But to get back to the most important point.
Substantively, what Mattis is doing and what a lot of establishment does, including the
New York Times, is wrong.
And so what he's doing is he's saying I'm holding my fire for now.
I'm just needling him, but he's saying the President is owed some degree of silence by
people that work in his administration.
He was obviously the former Secretary of Defense for Trump.
But I won't hold my silence forever.
I don't owe him that.
In other words, what he's seems to be implying is, I'm going to let you make the wrong decision
in the next election by not giving you all the information you need.
And then after it doesn't matter anymore for my own personal benefit, I will tell you what
actually happened in the Trump administration.
That way I can make more money from a book.
And that way I can say it wasn't a political decision when in fact not revealing it is
the most political decision you can make.
And at that point, I won't suffer any of the blowback from the right wing as much right.
And I'll be fettered as a hero for telling you what a bad guy Trump is after it doesn't
matter >> Right
>> And why did I compare it to the New York Times, the New York Times did that twice with
George W Bush.
Before the 2004 election, they held the warrantless wiretapping story and the story about how
we had Bin Laden cornered in Tora Bora and a US general asked permission to proceed to
capture Bin Laden, and he was denied permission.
Those are two massive stories.
They held them until after the 2004 election.
That is a deeply political decision that advantages power, incumbency, and the establishment.
And they say we did it because we didn't wanna be political.
No you have the information, not sharing it with the American people is political even
in itself.
And its always I don't wanna, look, I do wanna take any personal critic.
Yeah I wanna protect my own reputation and I don't want anybody criticizing me, so I'll
protect myself, dressed up all in a tux and feeling good.
And I won't let the American people know what the real facts are before they make the most
critical decision in a democracy.
>> So it's a great point, but with that said, I want to read you one more joke.
>> Okay, this wasn't in the video that we showed you.
He said, quote, I think the only person in the military that Mr. Trump doesn't think
is overrated is Colonel Sanders.
>> Is pretty good.
That's a pretty good joke.
>> Good job Mad-Dog.
>> Yes.
>> And I like the name Mad-Dog.
We all just like to say Mad-Dog, right?
>> Yeah, it's so ironic because he has a name a Mad Dog and his other nickname is Chaos.
And in reality, those are two nicknames that Trump should definitely have.
But my favorite nickname of Trump is of course Commander Bone Spurs.
Or some people say Cadet Bone Spurs, but he was neither.
Cuz he ran, to KFC.