BREAKING: me + @jdawsey1 confirm WSJ report. Meadows out of COS mix, POTUS wants him to stay in Congresss.
Stmt from @PressSec: MM "is a great friend to [POTUS] and is doing an incredible job… The Pres told him we need him in Congress so he can continue the great work…"
— Robert Costa (@costareports) December 12, 2018
… casts a harsh and unflattering glow:
"He's an idiot. I can't tell you what makes him tick.” -Fmr. Speaker John Boehner, on Rep. Mark Meadows https://t.co/6ygov5gnFn https://t.co/27l2wMfD6o
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) December 9, 2018
On the very short list of chiefs of staff who would be worse than Meadows are: Gohmert, Gaetz, Nunes, Rohrabacher, Jordan, Lou Hobbs, Geraldo and Lassie. And of this group, Lassie is by far the best choice.
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) December 9, 2018
The new attention hasn’t been particularly flattering to refusnik Nick Ayers, either…
AHEM.
[Taps mic]Excuse me. Why are we pretending it's normal and totally not suspicious that 36-year-old Nick Ayres made $54 million through political "consulting."
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) December 10, 2018
From Vanity Fair, “A Top Trump Insider Appears to Conclude That the White House Is Doomed”:
… In his home state of Georgia, it is no secret that Ayers has been considered a potential candidate for governor. Certainly, he has the resources—in the range of $12 million to $55 million, according to public filings—and the self-regard to step out of the shadows. Back in 2011, at the Republican Governors Association, Ayers famously abandoned his boss, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, to join Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign. Ben Smith, who obtained a copy of Ayers’s long-winded e-mail announcing the move, noted that it read like “he’s the one who will be running for president” instead of Pawlenty. (A classic Ayers line: “Over the past six months, I have prayed deeply about my purpose in life and how best to utilize the talents God has given me . . . As He often does in walks of faith, He has called me to a higher purpose.”) Stepping into the chief of staff role also would have forced Ayers to disclose how, exactly, he made his fortune as a political consultant—sometime West Wing insiders say Ayers wanted to avoid.
Repubs in Disarray Open Thread: The Chief-of-Staff SearchlightPost + Comments (123)