前白宫办公厅主任约翰·凯利是最新一位批评总统的前高级官员唐纳德·特朗普他威胁要用现役军人来对付后激烈的抗议上月末乔治·弗洛伊德被杀后的警察暴行。
凯利星期五对这一事件作出了反应本周早些时候的声明詹姆斯·马蒂斯说，他同意总统的前国防部长关于分裂政治的危险。马蒂斯和凯利一样，是一名退役的海军上将。
“我认为一个可怕的大问题是党派之争已经失控。部落的事情已经失控了，”凯利说。“我们不把对方视为美国同胞...我们视对方为对手。我们彼此不说话。我们互相大喊大叫。”
约翰·凯利在华盛顿艾森豪威尔行政办公大楼的印度条约室参加一个机构间工作组的年度会议，以监督和打击人口贩运。
凯利并没有达到刺痛的程度马蒂斯的文章停止质疑总统的成熟或断言特朗普不会努力团结美国人民但是他承认他同意这位前国防部长用爆炸性信息传达的潜在情绪。
“我同意。我认为我们需要从政治上退一步，”凯利告诉安东尼·斯卡拉姆奇在网上流传的一次采访中，他曾短暂地担任特朗普11天的沟通主管，直到凯利解雇了他。“分权非常、非常、非常重要。没有一位总统是独裁者或国王。”
凯利曾在2017年7月31日至2019年1月2日期间担任特朗普的第二任白宫办公厅主任，他表示，如果他作为办公厅主任面临清除抗议者以获得拍照机会的提议，他会建议反对。
“我认为最终的结果是可以预测的，”特朗普周一晚上从白宫穿过拉斐特广场去圣约翰圣公会教堂拍照后说道。“我会建议反对。”
尽管总统声称他解雇了2018年12月20日宣布辞职的马蒂斯，但凯利称特朗普没有解雇马蒂斯，再次反驳了总统的话，只是简单地回答“不，他没有”，同时承认白宫的每一段关系都会随着时间的推移而恶化。
周四，特朗普在推特上攻击凯利，质疑这位退役四星上将的耐力。
“约翰·凯利不知道我要解雇詹姆斯·马蒂斯，他也不知道我要求一封辞职信。为什么我要告诉他，他不是......在我的核心圈子里，我被这份工作弄得筋疲力尽，最终只能默默无闻。他们都想回来一展风头!”他说。
凯利还说“不”，马蒂没有被高估，在总统在推特上嘲笑马蒂是“世界上最被高估的将军”后，他再次不同意特朗普的观点。
凯利说现役部队我讨厌对他们的美国同胞使用武力的提议，强调军队是一支完全志愿的力量，是一支不关心政治的力量，军队几乎从不谈论政治。
斯卡拉姆奇问特朗普是否是一个“稳定的天才”，2018年1月6日，在被问及关于总统精神稳定性的问题时，总统用了一个著名的说法，凯利回避了这个问题。
“什么是天才?”他想知道。“我不知道那是什么。”
他表示，特朗普经常对官僚主义的缓慢感到沮丧，经常不喜欢内阁官员和白宫顾问提出的建议，但他表示，特朗普通常会听从他们的建议。
唐纳德·特朗普和詹姆斯·马蒂斯于2018年10月25日星期四抵达DC首都华盛顿，在白宫东厅发表演讲。
离总统选举只有五个月了，凯利说选民应该“更仔细地看看我们选谁”，包括检查候选人的性格和道德。
凯利说:“我认为我们需要更仔细地看看我们选谁。”。“我认为我们应该看看竞选公职的人，然后把他们过滤掉:他们的性格是什么样的?他们的道德标准是什么?”
他说如果特朗普输了今年秋天的选举，除了在摇摆州寻找潜在的计票结果，他无法想象特朗普会与结果抗争。凯利宣扬开国元勋们对制衡和分权的愿景——称赞美国宪法支持的机构的力量。
最后，当被问及他是否会在未来的政府中任职时，凯利透露，“我会任职”，并指出他来自一个服务家庭。
凯利在海军陆战队服役超过40年，在2016年退休前晋升为四星上将。在担任白宫办公厅主任之前，他被任命为特朗普的第一任国土安全部部长。
2010年，他的儿子罗伯特·凯利中尉在阿富汗巡逻时踩到地雷，在战斗中丧生。
Former Trump chief of staff John Kelly to voters: 'Look harder' at who you elect
Former White House chief of staffJohn Kellyis the latest former senior official to criticize PresidentDonald Trumpafter he threatened to use active-duty military to deal withraging protestsover police brutality in the wake of the killing of George Floyd late last month.
Kelly reacted Friday to thestatement earlier this weekmade by James Mattis, saying he agreed with the president’s former secretary of defense about the dangers of divisive politics. Mattis, like Kelly, is a retired Marine general.
“I think an awful big concern is that the partisanship has gotten out of hand. The tribal thing has gotten out of hand,” Kelly said. “We don't look at each other as fellow Americans ... we look at each other as opponents. We don't talk to each other. We yell at each other.”
John Kelly attends an Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons annual meeting in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington.
Kelly did not go as far as the stingingessay by Mattis, stopping short of questioning the president’s maturity or asserting Trump doesn’t make an effort tounite the American people, but he admitted he agrees with the underlying sentiment the former defense secretary sent with his explosive message.
“I agree. I think we need to step back from the politics,”Kelly told Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served Trump as communications director for 11 days until Kelly fired him, in an interview that streamed online. “The separation of powers is very, very, very important. No president ever is a dictator or a king.”
Kelly, who served as Trump’s second White House chief of staff from July 31, 2017 until Jan. 2, 2019, said that if he were faced as chief of staff with a proposal to clear protesters for a photo opportunity, he would have recommended against it.
“I would argue that the end result of that was predictable,” he said after Trump walked from the White House across Lafayette Square to St. John’s Episcopal Church for a photo opportunity Monday evening. “I’d have recommended against it.”
While the president has claimed he fired Mattis, who announced his resignation Dec. 20, 2018, Kelly recounted that Trump did not fire Mattis, again disputing the word of the president, answering simply “no, he did not” while admitting every relationship in the White House deteriorates over time.
On Thursday, Trump attacked Kelly on Twitter, questioning the retired four-star general’s stamina.
“John Kelly didn’t know I was going to fire James Mattis, nor did he have any knowledge of my asking for a letter of resignation. Why would I tell him, he was not... ...in my inner-circle, was totally exhausted by the job, and in the end just slinked away into obscurity. They all want to come back for a piece of the limelight!” he said.
Kelly also said that “no,” Mattis is not overrated, disagreeing with Trump yet again after the president mocked Mattis as "the world's most overrated General" in a tweet.
Kelly said thatactive-duty troopshate the proposition of using force against their fellow Americans, emphasizing the military is an all-volunteer force, one that is apolitical, and troops almost never talk politics.
Asked by Scaramucci if Trump is a “stable genius,” as the president famously characterized himself Jan. 6, 2018 following questions about the president’s mental stability, Kelly begged off the question.
“What is a genius?” he wondered. “I don’t know what that is.”
He said Trump was often frustrated by the slowness of bureaucracy and frequently did not like the recommendations put forward by Cabinet officials and White House advisers but he said Trump usually followed their advice.
Donald Trump and James Mattis arrive to speak in the East Room of the White House on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 in Washington, DC.
With the presidential election just five months away, Kelly said voters should “look harder at who we elect,” including examiningthe candidate’s character and ethics.
“I think we need to look harder at who we elect,” Kelly said. “I think we should look at people that are running for office and put them through the filter: What is their character like? What are their ethics?”
He said if Trump losesthe election this fall,he couldn’t imagine Trump fighting the results beyond seeking potential recounts for close tallies in swing states. Kelly touted the founding fathers’ vision for checks and balances and separation of powers - credited the strength of U.S. institutions supported by the constitution.
Finally, asked whether he would serve in a future administration, Kelly revealed, “I would serve,” noting he comes from a family of service.
Kelly served more than 40 years in the Marine Corps, rising to the rank of a four-star general before retiring in 2016. He was appointed as Trump’s first secretary of homeland security before his tenure as White House chief of staff.
His son, 1st Lt. Robert M. Kelly, was killed in action when he stepped on a landmine during a patrol in Afghanistan in 2010.
