Outgoing Defense Secretary General James Mattis explored the possibility of a presidential run against Trump in 2020, according to a leaked NDA sent to multiple political consulting firms in May this year and exclusively obtained by The Gateway Pundit.
Sources with knowledge of the proposed Mattis presidential bid told The Gateway Pundit that the team exploring the possibility found that the odds were favorable for a run in 2020 — but at the time they determined that the optics of a Secretary of Defense campaigning against the same president he served under would not be ideal. This led them to conclude that 2024 would be a better option, unless things changed.
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence depart the Pentagon following a meeting of the National Security Council in Washington, D.C., July 20, 2017. (DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique A. Pineiro)
Still, they decided that it would be a wise move to assemble a group of consultants to have on standby just in case, either for 2020 or 2024. One of the consultants that signed the NDA and discussed a Mattis run provided their copy to the Gateway Pundit.
An individual involved with the exploration of a run, who asked that their name be kept off the record, told Gateway that a Mattis run in 2020 was not off the table. The source said that if the Democrats push for impeachment before 2020, the Republicans would have an open primary — and that if that happened, there are “no demographics” that show Pence winning. In the event of impeachment, the consultant said Mattis would have a good chance.
When asked if he would be running as a Democrat or a Republican, the source explained that as a military general, he tends to hold independent political beliefs — but that a third party run would not be viable. They explained that he would most likely run as a Republican, as Democrat voters do not look fondly upon those they believe to be “war hawks.”
The source stressed that though they decided at the time that 2024 would be the best timing for a run, there is “a whole metric that changes” as DC is constantly moving and evolving. The source would not rule out that Mattis’ recent resignation puts a 2020 run against Trump on the cards.
On Thursday evening, it was announced that Mattis would be resigning from the administration in February, over his political differences with the president.
“Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position,” Mattis wrote in his resignation letter to President Trump.
The post EXCLUSIVE: Mattis Considered Presidential Run in 2020 Back in May, According to Leaked NDA Obtained by Gateway Pundit appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.