Retired four-star Marine Corps general and former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has recently (and finally) unleashed on Pres. Donald Trump’s incompetencies and legally questionable moves. Predictably, Trump has started attacking Kelly, who he “appreciated very much” when Kelly resigned.
On Wednesday, Kelly gave a speech to students at Drew University, and he described Trump’s Ukraine call as an “illegal order.”
“We teach them, ‘Don’t follow an illegal order. And if you’re ever given one, you’ll raise it to whoever gives it to you that this is an illegal order, and then tell your boss,” Kelly said in his speech.
Exactly as we’d expect, Trump started attacking Kelly on Twitter.
When I terminated John Kelly, which I couldn’t do fast enough, he knew full well that he was way over his head. Being Chief of Staff just wasn’t for him. He came in with a bang, went out with a whimper, but like so many X’s, he misses the action & just can’t keep his mouth shut,.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 13, 2020
….which he actually has a military and legal obligation to do. His incredible wife, Karen, who I have a lot of respect for, once pulled me aside & said strongly that “John respects you greatly. When we are no longer here, he will only speak well of you.” Wrong!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 13, 2020
Here’s the deal. First of all, as far as we know, Kelly resigned his post at the White House, and neither Trump nor anyone else disputed that at the time of Kelly’s leaving. Kelly also later said that he regretted resigning, which Trump did not dispute on Twitter at the time.
“That was almost 11 months ago, and I have an awful lot of, to say the least, second thoughts about leaving,” Kelly said. “It pains me to see what’s going on because I believe if I was still there or someone like me was there, he would not be kind of, all over the place.”
Also, when Trump announced Kelly’s upcoming departure to reporters, he said, “I appreciate his service very much.”
Trump has always been very vocal about firing people. In fact, he built a career on it, if his “The Apprentice” TV show is any indication. Furthermore, he has been quick to announce firings on his Twitter since he’s become president.
So who knows? What we do know is that Trump is now butthurt because John Kelly is publicly criticizing him.
