“What I would look for most in a leader is competence and compassion,” said Jim Mattis.
Sydney:
Former US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis declined to endorse his former boss Donald Trump on Thursday, urging voters to seek leaders who demonstrate “competence and compassion.”
“I will refuse your offer to support a candidate,” the retired four-star general said at a virtual event with the Lowy Institute in Sydney, joking that “retired generals must step down during election season “.
But the former sailor went on to detail several qualities he seeks that appear to be at odds with Trump’s closed-fisted political brand.
“What I would look for the most in a leader is competence and compassion,” he said.
“I would turn to the character and skill of the leader, compassion, empathy with his people, all of his people.”
Mattis also cited former President Harry Truman’s pledge to be “the president of those who did not vote for him” – a message Democratic candidate Joe Biden has conveyed in recent days as he tries to convince undecided and swing voters.
Since his resignation, Mattis has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats for his failure to criticize Trump and for his insistence on dodging political questions despite being a former Trump political member.
Mattis briefly broke his silence last June, after U.S. military personnel were used to crush largely peaceful protesters.
“Donald Trump is the first president in my life who doesn’t try to unite the American people – doesn’t even pretend to try. He’s instead trying to divide us,” he wrote in Atlantic magazine.
“We are seeing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are seeing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.”
With three weeks to go to the last day of voting and with millions of votes already cast, Trump is lagging behind in national polls and in several battlefield states.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
