>> I did as well as I could for as long as I could, Mattis writes in an excerpt from
his new book Call Sign Chaos.
>> That is Jim Mattis's upcoming book, and there has been an excerpt of that book published
in The Wall Street Journal.
And in it, we get a clear idea of how Mattis really felt working for the Trump administration,
something he didn't plan on doing, something he was surprised by what he was called on
Trump, and nominated by him.
And what's fascinating is how even after everything went down, Mattis is still avoiding attacking
Trump specifically by naming him.
So I'm gonna read you some of the excerpts that stood out to me the most.
But before I do so, I do think it's important to give you a sense of how The Atlantic covered
this story.
Because they have a little more insight into the way Mattis really felt about Trump.
Mattis often seemed burdened in his role.
His aides and friends say he found the president to be of limited cognitive ability, and of
generally dubious character.
>> So they interviewed Mattis.
That's why they have more insight into it.
>> Right.
>> And they also obviously talked to his friends and allies.
And so Mattis, I'm actually frustrated by it, he writes a whole book and says, well,
I'm not gonna really tell you what I think.
He says he still has, quote, a duty of silence.
And he said, there is a period in which I owe my silence.
It's not eternal, it's not going to be forever.
Dude, what difference does it make after Trump's out of office?
Your duty is to the country.
>> Right.
>> And it's to tell the truth right now.
If you know the president is of dubious character and limited cognitive ability, we should know
that before we decide whether to give him another four years as President of the United
States.
>> I mean, we've decided.
>> No, but look, we have, but the country hasn't.
And so his former Defense Secretary telling us what he actually knows would be incredibly
relevant.
If you think, well that would make it political, the whole world is political.
And keeping the information from the American public is also a political decision.
You know it, you should share it before we in a democracy make up our mind about who
to lead us, but all that notwithstanding, it's fairly clear from what he says.
So let's take a look at it and then, I wish he would give more details though.
>> Sure, so first a few more mentions from The Atlantic that I think are important.
Mattis and Tillerson had together smothered some of Trump's more extreme and imprudent
ideas.
But now Mattis was operating without cover.
Trump was turning on him publicly.
Two months earlier, he had speculated that Mattis might be a Democrat.
He's not, trust me.
And said in reference to NATO, I think I know more about it than he does.
So this is kind of setting the stage for the deterioration of the relationship between
Trump and Mattis.
Also, Mattis made his case for keeping troops in Syria.
Trump rejected his arguments.
30 minutes into the conversation, Mattis told the president, quote, you're going to have
to get the next secretary of defense to lose to ISIS.
I'm not going to do it.
He handed Trump his resignation letter, a letter that would soon become one of the most
famous documents of the Trump Presidency thus far.
We covered that story when it broke.
Also, nations with allies thrive, Jim Mattis writes, in the excerpt of his book.
Nations with allies rise, and those without them wither.
Alone, America cannot protect our people and our economy.
At this time, we can see storm clouds gathering.
A polemicist's role is not sufficient for a leader.
A leader must display strategic acumen that incorporates respect for those nations that
have stood with us when trouble loomed.
I mean, he's calling him a polemicist.
>> Obviously, I mean he's saying that he doesn't have acumen.
That means he's not smart.
Now luckily, Trump is dumb enough that he won't understand that paragraph.
So he won't read it and he won't understand it.
So it'll be fine.
So look, Mattis being a Democrat, hilarious.
First of all, one of the reasons he left is because he wanted to stay in Syria longer.
Progressives don't wanna stay in Syria longer, and his idea is a perpetual war.
So I don't agree with Mattis substantively or strategically.
And let's also note for the record, as he's being lionized now by the anti-Trump forces,
which is significant in the media, that Mattis also only turned on Trump when Trump turned
on him.
>> 100%, yes.
>> And so, I mean, he was a good soldier, if you will, before Trump started publicly
insulting him.
So and then he left and now he writes this half measure book.
>> Yes.
>> Look, having read some of the book, the excerpts that have been released so far.
I get it that Mattis is a fairly principled guy, strategic, and he is not a person of
low character like Donald Trump.
And he is clearly smart, so he has upsides, but no one else will talk about his downsides
and we've got to give you a fuller picture.
Now, having said that, who is right and wrong between Mattis and Trump?
Only blinded MAGA guys would dispute that Mattis is correct.
>> Right, look, I think the thing that's frustrating about all of this is the reasons that you
mentioned earlier.
I mean, the fact that he's being lionized now, the fact that he's being applauded for
doing this half measure and calling Trump out a little bit.
But at the same time, I mean, Trump is the lowest bar, right?
>> Yeah.
>> So anyone who's having a debate and they're saying, well, Mattis is better than Trump.
Well, yeah, most people are better than Trump, right?
Most people that we've disagreed with politically for years are better than Trump.
But in a way, when it comes to people like Mattis, when it comes to members of Trump's
administration right now, they're worse in that they have absolutely no courage.
And don't understand the importance of their role, right?
And how this country is supposed to be governed.
How there are supposed to be certain protections against an authoritarian character like Donald
Trump.
I mean, he was supposed to challenge Trump from within the administration.
Yes, Trump wants to surround himself with yes-men, and he will turn on you the second
you don't give him anything and everything he wants.
But at the same time, you're right, in that he didn't turn on Trump until Trump publicly
turned on him.
And it's interesting because Trump turned on him over the issue of Syria, which is what
we actually agreed with Trump on.
>> Yeah, and so, he says in the book, Mattis does, our own commons seems to be breaking
apart.
And he talks about our internal divisiveness and then says this.
All Americans need to recognize that our democracy is an experiment and one that can be reversed.
We all know that we're better than our current politics.
Tribalism must not be allowed to destroy our experiment.
Yeah, okay, well, then say it, man.
He's clearly saying that Trump is dividing us and ripping us apart, and that our democracy
is in danger.
He's clearly saying that to people who are smart enough to understand that.
But remember, most MAGA guys and low information voters are not gonna read all of Mattis's
book.
They're not even gonna read an excerpt in the Wall Street Journal and get to the 28th
paragraph.
And they're not going to take a sentence like that, that any smart person knows what he
intends, and understand it.
You have to actually say the words, Trump is breaking us apart, Trump is dividing this
country and I'm worried Trump might end democracy.
If Mattis said that instead of this sophisticated sentence, it would be national news everywhere.
It would be headlines all across the world, and people will go, whoa, his former Defense
Secretary saying that Trump might end democracy.
So just, goddammit, be clear, you owe a duty to the Constitution, to the country.
If you think that our democracy's in peril, which what you wrote, then you owe a duty
to this country to say it more clearly.
>> Couldn't agree more, and just remember, there are people still serving for Trump who
will do these leaks.
They'll go talk to the press and talk about how concerned and worried they are.
You'll have someone publish an anonymous op-ed in the New York Times, talking about how there
are adults in the room who are keeping an eye on Trump.
But no one is really coming out publicly and calling it what it is.
And Mattis talks about tribalism.
But that tribalism is perpetuated by people like him who protect the President and refuse
to really call him out and do what's necessary.
Maybe even work with Democrats to get him out of office, to impeach him.
>> Or work with Republicans in a primary, I don't care.
>> Right.
>> And so, look, last thing on this is that I now totally get why fascism wins.
When I was younger and I used to visit museums, and I saw the Holocaust Museum, etc., Museum
of Tolerance here in LA.
I couldn't believe it, how could they not see it, how could they not see it?
Cuz it creeps up on you.
And then there's the bureaucrats, and the bureaucrats just go along and go, I'm not
gonna say whether our democracy is in peril, or when we have trouble, and tribalism.
And then the bully comes, and then he steamrolls everybody!
And Mueller comes and goes, well you know my remit and my purview was the election.
Even though the giant Russian business ties are staring me in the face, since it was not
in the letter of my mandate, I did not look into it.
And I'm just gonna repeat what my report says in very carefully worded language.
These bureaucrats are getting steamrolled!
Cuz there's not used to dealing with a fascist!
So Mattis, you talk about in your book, how a Marine is supposed to adjust.
You don't just go into the battlefield with the plan you have.
Once you hit the battlefield, you're supposed to adjust.
And he says it even in more eloquent terms, right?
Well, you gotta adjust right now!
So, yeah, you like the Republicans, you like perpetual war, I get it.
We disagree on that, right?
And you say, well, if I liked the Republicans and I served a president, the old code is,
I don't say anything about the president.
But we're in a time where you think the president might end democracy.
So you've got to adjust.
And you've gotta be clearer.
And so right now, it's a small little story that intellectuals go, hey, look at that.
Can you believe that?
>> Right.
>> And everyone else ignores.
If you want the message to be heard, you've got to be loud and clear and a Marine should
know that.