MATTIS, KELLY PROTECTING THEIR JOBS, NOT TELLING TRUTH: WOODWARD

Longtime journalist Bob Woodward said Monday that Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly “are not telling the truth” when they deny making disparaging statements about President Donald Trump attributed to them in his new book, “Fear.”

Kelly is quoted calling Trump “an idiot,” and Mattis is quoted saying Trump has the understanding of “a fifth or sixth-grader,” but they’ve said they didn’t make those statements.

Woodward, asked on Monday on NBC’s Today show about their denials, said, “They are not telling the truth.” He said “these are political statements to protect their jobs.”

Trump, though, has called the book “fiction.” Since excerpts were released last week, Trump has accused Woodward of making up quotes attributed to him and others.