James Mattis warns Americans to wear a mask in PSA: Coronavirus 'is not going away on its own'

On Wednesday, CNN reported that President Donald Trump's former Secretary of Defense, ex-Marine General James Mattis, urged the American people to follow pandemic guidelines in a new public service announcement.

"Hello neighbors, I'm Jim Mattis," he begins in the clip, which was uploaded to YouTube on Monday by the city of Richland, Washington. "I'm here to talk about that nasty little virus, COVID."

Mattis warned that the virus "is not going away on its own" and concluded, "Let's wear those face coverings and let's work together on this to beat COVID."

Mattis served as Trump's initial Defense Secretary before resigning at the end of 2018.

He has been one of the most outspoken former Trump officials against the president, giving a blistering interview after Trump officials forcibly cleared peaceful protesters out of Lafayette Square, saying that "we have gone three years without mature leadership."

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