Defense Secretary James Mattis Has Refused To Go On Fox and Friends To Defend Trump

Secretary of Defense James Mattis has refused to go on the Trump friendly show Fox and Friends, where he would be asked partisan questions and asked to defend the President.

The New York Times reported, “But people close to Mr. Mattis said that he distinguished between requests from Mr. Trump himself and those from administration aides, who have called the Pentagon weekly suggesting that he go on “Fox & Friends,” the Fox News morning show that is supportive of Mr. Trump, for instance, but to no avail.”

Mattis was correct. There is a big difference between holding a press conference at Trump’s request, and going on a television show that is three hour non-stop pep rally for the President. Instead of surrounding himself with ‘the best people,’ Trump’s White House is full of political novices who have no idea what they are doing, and hold the dangerous belief that every part of the Executive Branch should be used as a partisan weapon to support Trump.

People like James Mattis are rare in the Trump administration, but they do exist. Mattis is trying to be a professional and do his job. However, in the cult of personality that is this White House, many people view the job as supporting Trump.

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The Defense Secretary is trying to do the right thing, which means that he probably won’t last very long working for Donald Trump.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association