More on-the-record interviews with White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, please. The Trump aide and retired Marine Corps general says newsworthy things, as he showed during a much-discussed interview Friday with NPR’s John Burnett. Competing news outlets are picking up on his takes regarding immigrants and the Russia investigation.
A different passage stopped the Erik Wemple Blog in our rickety reading glasses. It came in the context of Kelly’s accusation that the media is “vicious” in its reporting on the current White House:
I did my first off the record — that was immediately violated. But after about six weeks in a job one of the reporters said to me, “Look you were our worst nightmare. This place was a clown show before you showed up. We didn’t think this president would last a year [or] 18 months. Now that you’re here, there’s order to the place. The leaks all but went away. So, sorry but you got to go.” So here I am, sitting, still here.
After reading that, the Erik Wemple Blog consulted with Burnett to inquire as to whether Kelly may have been referencing a light-hearted moment with that reporter. Burnett responded that he’s not sure. Julie Hirschfeld Davis, a White House correspondent for the New York Times, commented:
From the context of the transcript, it appears Kelly is alleging that some reporter out there said to him with a straight face: We want you out of here.
A more plausible scenario is that some reporter was trying to kiss up to Kelly. The reporter compliments Kelly on how bad things used to be. The reporter then compliments Kelly on his significant clean-up skills. The reporter then suggests that leaks have dried up. And then the reporter jokes that Kelly has to go! Hahaha.
To suppose the reporter insulted Kelly to his face is to suppose the reporter wanted never to get a return call from Kelly, or a return email from Kelly — who, as the chief of staff, regulates access to the president of the United States. Seems implausible, unfathomable.
We’ve asked the White House to identify the name of the reporter who allegedly told Kelly he had to go. No response as yet.
With this vignette, Kelly appears determined to spread the impression that his chief-of-staffdom has clamped down on the leaks from the White House. But it hasn’t. Dial back the news machine just a couple of months, to the time Kelly himself was irate over a leak of spewing proportions: Briefing materials for President Trump had urged him “DO NOT CONGRATULATE” Russian President Vladimir Putin after his reelection in March. But Trump went ahead and did so anyhow.
“White House aides were reeling about the fact that the briefing materials were leaked, and were left wondering who would provide such sensitive information to reporters, the official said” reported Politico.
For more examples of illuminating White House leaks, please see this story on a White House aide joking about how Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is “dying,” or this story about how Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, was close to resigning following a scolding from Trump during a Cabinet meeting. And then there was the leak-saturated coverage about Kelly’s very own mishandling of the Rob Porter scandal.