John Kelly's Speech about Frederica Wilson: How to Lose Credibility, and Fast

A speaker’s credibility can take years to build, and a moment to destroy.

At the start of training, United States Marine recruits are told: “Be completely honest in everything that you do. A marine never lies, cheats, or compromises.” Retired United States Marine General John Kelly, White House Chief of Staff, involved himself in a dustup on what should have been a minor issue. Apparently, possibly due to poor staff work (which should be General Kelly’s area?), President Donald Trump delayed almost two weeks to acknowledge the deaths of four United States service personnel in Niger. Instead of fixing the issue quietly, the President accused some of his predecessors of neglecting the same duty.  Unnecessary, but, oh well. Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson then accused President Trump of making a tasteless phone call to one of the Gold Star families. She probably should not have made that public, but, oh well.

John Kelly

Yesterday, however, General Kelly gave a brief speech from the White House in which, after discussing how the military informs and comforts grieving families, he lashed out at Congresswoman Wilson on an unrelated matter. He felt that Ms. Wilson was tasteless during the dedication of the FBI Field Office in Miami, Florida, which was named after FBI Special Agents Jerry Dove and Benjamin Grogan, who died fighting bank robbers in Miami in 1986. 

Unfortunately, General Kelly made several incorrect accusations against Congresswoman Wilson. He said that “In October of 2015, while still on active duty, I went to the dedication of the FBI field office in Miami." He continued that family members and survivors of the gunfight were there. So far, totally off the point, which was supposedly Mr. Trump's handling of the Niger incident, but otherwise OK.

Unfortunately, Kelly didn’t stop there; his voice quivering with indignation, he called Congresswoman Wilson names and made blatantly false accusations against her:

“And the congresswoman stood up and in the long tradition of empty barrels making the most noise stood up there and all of that and talked about how she was instrumental in getting the funding for that building. And how she took care of her constituents because she got the money. And she just called up President Obama and on that phone call he gave the money, the 20 million dollars to build the building. And she sat down. And we were stunned. Stunned that she'd done it. Even for someone that was that empty a barrel, we were stunned.”

General Kelly then described her speech as “Selfish behavior of a member of Congress.”

However, the Orlando Sentinel found a video of Ms. Wilson’s speech, and it objectively, irrefutably disproves those accusations. First, Wilson did not claim credit for funding the building and did not claim that she called President Obama. She called Speaker of the House John Boehner and told him that the FBI and the country needed to have the building named quickly and she gave Mr. Boehner credit for getting the bill passed. She mentioned that she undertook her efforts at the FBI’s request. She spread credit to several other members of Congress, including Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who was also in the room. She also recognized FBI Director James Comey, FBI agents, agents' families, General Services Administration officials, the head of the FBI Miami field office, and the mayor. The audience did not appear “stunned;” they laughed, applauded, and cheered throughout her speech.

Second, although Ms. Wilson did briefly brag about getting the name adopted, it remains that, contrary to General Kelly’s accusation, she said nothing about the funding. She did not claim to have called President Obama. Ms. Wilson explained that a copy of the bill and the President’s signing pen would be given to FBI. She said that this “speaks to the respect that our Congress has for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The men and women who put their lives on the line every single day.” She greatly praised the agents, especially Special Agents Dove and Grogan. She asked all law enforcement and first responders to stand for applause. “We are proud of you.”

So, in sum, she did not claim credit for funding the building, did not claim to have called President Obama, and did not leave the audience stunned.

Political reaction has been interesting. The Miami Herald noted in detail that General Kelly “was wrong.” The Washington Post called on General Kelly to apologize. The New York Daily News agreed. The San Francisco Chronicle published an AP Fact check showing that he “distorted the facts.” The Sun Sentinel editorialized, "Frederica Wilson is No 'Empty Barrel,' John Kelly."

Yet, the very conservative Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle published an editorial cartoon this morning calling for “John Kelly for Prez 2017.” Now that Kelly has been proven to speak falsely with the correct level of righteous indignation, does that make him qualified to be a Republican President? Really? Conservative columnist Erick Erickson complained that General Kelly “became the subject of attacks from the left,” but cleverly neglected to mention his false accusations against Ms. Wilson. White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that it was wrong to question General Kelly: “If you want to get into a debate with a four-star Marine general, I think that’s something highly inappropriate.” President Trump tweeted, "I hope the Fake News Media keeps talking about Wacky Congresswoman Wilson in that she, as a representative, is killing the Democrat Party." 

Lessons about Public Speaking?

First, although his loyal supporters continue either to defend General Kelly, or at least to ignore his mistakes, his false accusations have been well-publicized and his credibility will never, ever recover. Even if he says something true, his word will now mean less.

Second, ad hominem attacks are no substitute for argument. The underlying issue was whether Mister Trump was doing his job correctly, and calling Ms. Wilson an “empty barrel” – twice – did not defend President Trump. An ad hominem attack's purpose is to divert attention. Even if General Kelly’s attacks had been true, they were off the point.

Third, people hear what they want to hear. Conservative posters on social media have redoubled their personal attacks against Congresswoman Wilson. Doing so defends neither President Trump's oversights nor General Kelly’s mistakes.

Fourth, General Kelly may have relied on his personal memory and did not investigate Congresswoman Wilson’s speech before he spoke. We all remember things wrongly. Speakers, as I have said many times, need research.

Finally, people need to admit it when they make a mistake about something important, and they need the admission to be prompt and cheerful. We all make mistakes. This entire dustup arose because President Trump did not admit that he made a mistake when he delaying commenting about the tragic Niger incident, and General Kelly and the White House staff are making a mistake by not admitting that he was wrong about Congresswoman Wilson. A few moments of honesty would make the entire controversy go away.

P.S.: Special Agents Dove and Grogan died fighting bank robbers, not drug dealers as Kelly said, and it was Special Agent Dove, not Duke. Again, research is good. You're speaking for the White House. Get it right.

 

Quotations from Kelly's and Wilson's speeches are my own transcriptions directly from the videos, and there could be trivial differences from the published versions. 

  Photo: Department of Homeland Security