'I'm going to f---ing send you to Afghanistan': Mattis reportedly lashed out at Sean Spicer when he kept asking him to go on television
- Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis is not a fan of Sunday morning talk shows.
- Apparently, that disdain for televised appearances resulted in a threat to a White House press secretary eager to see him on TV.
- Mattis, according to a soon-to-be-released book by journalist Bob Woodward, reportedly lashed out at Sean Spicer, the president's former press secretary, after he tried to get him to go on TV.
- He told Spicer that he would send him to Afghanistan if he called again.
- The secretary of defense has discredited Woodward's reporting, calling it a "uniquely Washington brand" of "fiction."
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis reportedly lashed out at Sean Spicer after the former White House press secretary repeatedly tried to get him to go on Sunday morning talk shows, according to a soon-to-be-released book by journalist Bob Woodward.
Spicer apparently tried numerous times to get the secretary of defense to go on television, finally causing an exasperated Mattis to respond with a statement far clearer than a simple "no."
"Sean," Mattis said, according to an excerpt of the book, "Fear," obtained by CNN. "I've killed people for a living. If you call me again, I'm going to f---ing send you to Afghanistan. Are we clear?"
The secretary of defense has made only one televised appearance on a network show since the start of the Trump presidency. He appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation" in May 2017, when he told host John Dickerson that nothing keeps him awake at night, adding, "I keep other people awake at night."
Just prior to the most recent Pentagon briefing, Mattis revealed to reporters that he takes no pleasure in standing up in front of the cameras and addressing a large audience.
Woodward's book, the topic of much discussion this week, also claimed that Mattis privately criticized President Donald Trump for having the understanding of "a fifth- or sixth-grader" after a particularly trying meeting, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Mattis also reportedly had to rein in US policy after a phone call in which the president supposedly ranted about wanting to "f---ing kill" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In response to Woodward's reporting, Mattis issued a statement Tuesday condemning the book as a "uniquely Washington brand" of "fiction."
"The contemptuous words about the President attributed to me in Woodward's book were never uttered by me or in my presence," Mattis explained, "While I generally enjoy reading fiction, this is a uniquely Washington brand of literature, and his anonymous sources do not lend credibility."
"In serving in this administration, the idea that I would show contempt for the elected Commander-in-Chief, President Trump, or tolerate disrespect to the office of the President from within our Department of Defense, is a product of someone's rich imagination," he added.