Trump Teases Mnuchin, Conway As Mulvaney Replacements According To New Leaks
Following a Sunday Bloomberg report that President Trump’s “closest associates” are assembling a list of possible replacements for acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, the left-leaning news outlet now reports that President Trump has been “privately testing the idea of replacing” the embattled official.
About a month ago, Trump said to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in front of a roomful of staff: You have such great ideas, why don’t you be my chief? He has made similar remarks about Chris Liddell, a deputy chief of staff at the White House, according to people familiar with the matter. He’s also asked advisers whether his counselor Kellyanne Conway would be a good chief of staff, other people said. –Bloomberg
Of course, the report goes on to say “Some White House aides say this is nothing new, and that Trump often tests similar ideas in conversation or makes such remarks to flatter his aides and keep others on their toes.”
What’s more, another person ‘familiar with the matter’ said that Mnuchin is not under formal consideration, while the White House told Bloomberg in a Monday email “Mick Mulvaney’s standing in the White House has not changed,” adding “He is still the acting chief of staff and has the president’s confidence.”
In short, nobody has any idea what Trump will do, per usual, and it appears that Bloomberg is manufacturing controversy.
Last week Mulvaney’s stock took a nosedive after he appeared to acknowledge a quid pro quo between the Trump administration and Ukraine in exchange for an investigation of Ukraine’s role in the 2016 US election – while telling the media to “get over it.”
“Did he also mention to me in past the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely,” Mulvaney told reporters. “No question about that. But that’s it, and that’s why we held up the money.”
The comments were quickly walked back by the White House.
“Multiple times during the more-than 30 minute briefing where I took over 25 questions, I referred to President Trump’s interest in rooting out corruption in Ukraine, and ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly and appropriately,” Mulvaney said in the statement.
“There was never any condition on the flow of aid related to the matter of the DNC server,” Mulvaney added.
Despite the fumbling, the Trump 2020 campaign took things in stride – producing a “Get over it” T-shirt.
Time to stop the political theater and false accusations.
Time to get back to work for the people of this country.
Time to Get Over It!https://t.co/MEQNVxZEwU
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) October 18, 2019
Still, Mulvaney came under fire from Trump’s media allies such as Sean Hannity and Lou Dobbs – who called Mulvaney’s press conference “thoroughly confusing,” adding that it “seemed to contradict what the president has said.”
Tyler Durden
Tue, 10/22/2019 – 15:30
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/32E4ilS Tyler Durden