‘Mr. Secretary, are you a Democrat?’
Mattis responds to Trump’s comment that the Defense Secretary is ‘sort of a Democrat.
For the first time since he was appointed by President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was asked by reporters directly: “Are you a Democrat?”
It’s not a question that crossed the minds of most reporters during Mattis’ early tenure. The former top Middle East general could be bellicose in the field; Trump had clear affection for that “Mad Dog” image in his rallies; Trump said Mattis was “a true generals’ general.” However Mattis had never identified himself as a Republican, nor as a Democrat.
But in the past few weeks, the former four-star commander who saw his tenure as the head of U.S. Central Command cut short during Democrat President Barack Obama’s presidency over disagreements on his Iran policy was now facing regular questions over whether his time in Trump’s Republican cabinet would be similarly short-lived, particularly after Trump told “60 Minutes” on Sunday he thought his defense secretary may be “sort of a Democrat.”
Mattis: “You know, we’re all built on our formative experiences. When I was 18, I joined the Marine Corps, and in the U.S. military we are proudly apolitical. By that, I mean that in our duties, we were brought up to obey the elected commander in chief, whoever that is. And we’ve seen, over those — since I was in the military longer than some of you have been alive, I have seen Republicans and Democrats come and go. Where am I today? I’m a member of the president’s administration. And you have seen that President Trump’s military policies, security policies, reaping significant bipartisan support. So my role, when you see 83 percent — think about this — for ? and I realize you all write about tension between this person and that, this administration and that party, and this sort of thing.”
Mattis continued: “But when you think 83 percent of the U.S. Congress voting the same way on an issue put forward by the Republican president, you can see that my portfolio is bipartisan by its very basis, and that is the protection of the United States. That’s what President Trump has told me to do, and I eagerly carry that out, alongside probably the most selfless young men and women — not all young; some old men and women, too — civilian and military, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines working together. So that’s where I stand. That defines me.”
Q: I don’t want to put too fine a point on it, but you haven’t registered Republican or Democrat. Is that what I’m hearing you say?
Mattis: I’ve never registered for any political party.
He is neither Democrat or Republican…what will they do now?
Source: ‘Mr. Secretary, are you a Democrat?’
Category: Politics
So he’s apolitical and keeps his mouth shut. A refreshing change.
He has such excellent answers to prevent them from trying to make a case out of anything possible.
At the end of the day, all of us have issues we’re more liberal on and others we are more conservative on.
Secretary Mattis is a Mad Dog Patriot!
Chaos in 2024!!(I know it won’t happen, but it’s nice to think about)
Never say never…
I don’t understand.
Are you an infantryman and a father, or is your son an infantryman?
I assume, of course, that the blue cord is the one and only blue cord.
Don’t you have a floor buffer to push somewhere?
And don’t forget:
Every Marine is a Rifleman.
There is a rumor that Chuck Norris fetches coffee for Mattis.
The media cannot help it. They have a pathological need to pigeon hole and categorize people. And they say Trump is the reason people are so polarized.
It sounds sort of like self-radicalization to me. Or am I misreading their lack of understanding of English?
They don’t know when they’re being yanked, do they?
Normally I’d agree, but this time Trump himself stoked the fire. Why would he even suggest that his own SecDef is part of the other camp? My guess is he was trolling again.
Mattis IS a political party. Where do I sign up?
At any military recruiting station.
Pretty sure they’re not gonna take a 55 year old retired SFC with deteriorated discs and asthma. We’re not that far down the barrel yet. Are we?
Well if they take you they’ll take me…I’m a bit older than you but still manage to run a soccer field as a referee with my blown out ankles and bone spurs in my heels….
They’ll put us in a rear guard holding position because they know we ain’t outrunning anyone these days so we’ll have to put up a hell of a fight before we go out…
I’m in, anyone else?
Here! 37yo, wiser and more mature than my crankstepping 18yo self that enlisted in ’99.
66 this Friday; count me in!!
75 and I’m ready
“Mr. Secretary, are you a Democrat?”
“Dafuque question is that? Do I look like a Democrat to you? Do I sound like a Democrat to you? Voter registration records are public information. Put the phuking bagel down and go check yourself. Anyone else have a phuking question for me?”
Mattis is neither democrat nor republican. Mattis is Mattis. Next question.
I too am not defined in a political party
I thought he was a Marine.
It seems that every time Mattis is in a dustup with the fairies in the press, his response makes me sit back and just smile.
He is a Marine, and an American. That is all you need right there. And DON’T piss him off.
My late father a retired Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant was a bit of a curmudgeon, and as far as organized political parties went was pretty apolitical. During his time in the military he never registered to vote as he felt he shouldn’t get involved in politics. After he retired from active duty, he never registered to vote because he didn’t want to get called for jury duty. In all my years I only heard him express comments about one POTUS. He made it clear that he didn’t respect one William Jefferson Clinton. When my mother died he received a certificate from then President Bush (the elder) to go along with the flag that was on her casket following her death. Seven years later when my father died, such a certificate was not forthcoming for his service. I still have his interment flag. And rather than have him roll over in his grave I didn’t request one from the one fellow my father had expressed an issue with as commander in chief.
Growing up in the 70s in South Carolina, if you wanted to have a meaningful vote you had to vote in the Democratic primary. Strom Thurmond was the only Republican in the State. So when I first registered I registered as a Democrat. I’ve never voted for one for President but I was a Democrat. Since 1980 I’ve only voted in one Democratic Primary. In the 2008 Democratic Primary I voted against Hillary and for Obama in the Georgia Presidential primary. It was the least I could do to derail her coronation.
The media clowns really need to step lightly with SecDef Mattis.
He has already figured out how to kill everyone in the room…
He was asked if he was a democrat because Trump called him one in one of his typical effort to discredit anyone who Is known to disagree with hiim.
When Trump has his thin skin scuffed by something Mattis does I wonder how fast you all will turn on Mattis like you did Mueller.
You are fucking stupid if you think anyone here will turn on Mattis for anything Trump says. Unlike your side of the aisle, we have no problem calling out people in our own party when they say or do something stupid.
You could have stopped after your first four words, Twist. She has well established that about herself. She’s DU material. There’s not an original thought in her mind, and she confuses her hopefulness with certainty.
Oh, blow it out your ass. The Old Ones are not amused. Do something useful and get me a beer, you worthless little shit.
There is a reason why he is a General’s General. Unlike puking Wesley Clark, Mad Dog is all business and completely comfortable with himself.
That is an essential character of a leader, that it is not all about him but is about the purpose for which leadership is required.
Now, to the contrary, in Massachusetts being independent is a certain mark of a democrat. Socialists register as democrats, would be socialists register as independents so that they may vote in primaries to further the interests of the democrats and republicans register as republicans just to avoid the stigma of being identified as a democrat.
I wish I had not registered to vote in Massachusetts. The Republican vote here is meaningless with the penalty of being abused for jury duty.
Where does General Mattis maintain his domicile? Virginia?
God bless Jim Mattis and Dick Cheney, too!
The comment from Trump came in reply to a question posed by someone posing as a journalist on the TV show 60 Minutes. I think it was that chick, Leslie Stahl. Trump says, in part, “I think he’s sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth….” So, Stahl asks, ‘What does that mean, that Secretary Mattis is sort of a Democrat?’ Just kidding about that question. Being a pretend journalist, she never asked that obvious question.
I’m sick of fucking politics whether republican or democrat, we need a party for America and if there was a Mad Dog Party I would be a charter memeber.
The only thing that surprises me is that the “journalist” didn’t spend the next hour in the “front lean and rest” position.
Transparent manufactured BS is BS. Attempts to create controversy where there is none maybe getting small results.
http://fortune.com/2018/10/16/trumps-approval-rating-military-troops-survey/
Expect more stories about Trump “firing” Mattis every election cycle.
IMHO today’s sniveling little booger-eating bedwetters in the mainstream snooze media will do all they can to make President Trump and his Administration look bad, there is no low that they won’t stoop to!