Former White House chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, has said that President Trump “is the most flawed person” he’s ever known, CNN reported.
“The depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship, though it’s more pathetic than anything else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life,” Kelly has told friends, the outlet reported.
Kelly left the White House in January 2019.
Earlier this year, Kelly said that he agreed with former Defense Secretary James Mattis’s criticism of the president’s handling of protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Mattis lashed out at Trump in a statement to The Atlantic over his handling of the protests, saying that Trump is the first president in his lifetime “who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try.”
Following Mattis’s comments, Kelly told former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci during an interview that “He’s quite a man, Gen. Jim Mattis, and for him to do that tells you where he is relative to the concern he has for our country.”
Kelly added that “I think we really need to step back. I think we need to look harder at who we elect.”
“What is their character like? What are their ethics?” he continued. “Are they willing, if they’re elected, to represent all of their constituents, not just the base, but all of their constituents? And then look at the politics.”
Kelly has also defended retired Army Lt. Col Alexander Vindman for voicing concerns over the president’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last year which was at the heart of Trump’s impeachment hearing, among other criticisms.
Kelly’s new comments are part of a CNN special titled “The Insiders: A Warning from Former Trump Officials” set to air Sunday. Former national security adviser John Bolton, former Health and Human Services Secretary Rick Bright, and other former Trump administration officials who have criticized the president are set to appear in the special.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Kelly since he left the White House. After Kelly defended Mattis, Trump said the former chief of staff “was not in my inner-circle, was totally exhausted by the job, and in the end just slinked away into obscurity.”