White House Shake-Up: Chief Of Staff Reince Priebus Resigns

From this point on, you should take stock in the rumors you hear coming out of the White House.

We heard two months ago that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was close to being fired.

Gone.

Just a week later, following the rumors we've all seen, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus has resigned.

The new Chief of Staff will be current Homeland Security Secretary, General John F. Kelly.

"I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American...and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration."

I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017

...and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017

Note the use of the words "true star." Trump just got off Air Force One where he referred to Reince as a "good man;" that was followed by his called Kelly "a great, great man."

Priebus had developed a relationship with Trump during the presidential campaign having served as the Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

When Trump won, which I honestly believe surprised Trump, even he was aware he knew nothing of Washington protocol and procedures.

I think Trump turned to the most "inside" political person he knew: Priebus.

But over time, we've seen Trump only admires folks who utilize the same approach as Trump. And that's not Priebus.

As we saw in Anthony Scaramucci's expletive-laden rant to New Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza yesterday, Scaramucci's "street approach" is much more to Trump's liking.

One more thing - Back in 2012, Donald Trump criticized President Obama for having 3 Chiefs of Staff over 3 years. Trump is on his second in only six months:

3 Chief of Staffs in less than 3 years of being President: Part of the reason why @BarackObama can't manage to pass his agenda.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2012

Facing July Deadline Reince Priebus Praises Trump: Thank You For The Blessing To Serve

Ok, this seems a bit odd.

From CNBC:

After a weekend dominated by discussion of whether he had committed obstruction of justice, the president called in reporters for what he billed as his first full Cabinet meeting. He began with an opening statement laced with the sort of wild self-congratulatory boasts that are his trademark.

"Never has there been a president with few exceptions … who has passed more legislation, done more things," Trump declared, even though Congress, which is controlled by his party, hasn't passed any major legislation.

He hailed his plan for the "single biggest tax cut in American history," even though he hasn't proposed a plan and Congress hasn't acted on one. He said "no one would have believed" his election could have created so many new jobs over the past seven months (1.1 million), even though more jobs (1.3 million) were created in the previous seven months.

Typically, a president's initial comments mark the end of on-camera coverage of White House Cabinet meetings, with administration aides then escorting members of the small press "pool" out of the room. But Trump invited reporters to remain as he called on his senior-most advisers to "go around, name your position" and say a few words about the administration's work.

Vice President Mike Pence told the room serving as Trump's number two is "the greatest privilege of my life."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions: "An honor to be here."

Energy Secretary Rick Perry: "My hat is off to you."

Chief of Staff Reince Priebus: "We thank you for the opportunity and the blessing to serve your agenda."

This is where I should probably mention that according to reports, Trump has given Priebus until July 4th to straighten out the problems in the West Wing or he promises to make serious changes.

You think Priebus had that in mind when he lauded the Donald here?

Trump went around table listening to his Cabinet praise him

Reince: “We thank you for the opportunity & the blessing…to serve your agenda” pic.twitter.com/3MPQq4CIiq

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 12, 2017

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer didn't miss a beat trolling Trump's staff with this video:

GREAT meeting today with the best staff in the history of the world!!! pic.twitter.com/ocE1xhEAac

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 12, 2017

NY Times: Possible White House Shakeup In The Works

President Trump

The New York Times reports that a major shakeup could be in the works for the Trump administration.

Mr. Trump is growing increasingly dissatisfied with the performance of his chief of staff, Reince Priebus; the communications director, Michael Dubke; and Mr. Spicer, a Priebus ally, according to a half-dozen West Wing officials who said the president was considering the most far-reaching shake-up of his already tumultuous term.

He has been especially critical of Mr. Spicer, they said, openly musing about replacing him and telling people in his circle that he kept his own press secretary out of the loop in dismissing Mr. Comey until the last possible moment because he feared that the communications staff would leak the news.

Mr. Spicer’s blustery style mimics Mr. Trump’s, but people close to both men said he has not developed an especially close relationship with the president and has failed to use the self-protective tools that savvier Trump aides have adopted.

That seems to be changing. On Friday, Mr. Spicer prefaced much of what he said at the daily briefing with, “The president’s statement.” And while Mr. Trump has raised the Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle to allies as a possible press secretary, he has spent several hours with Mr. Spicer this week, praising his television “ratings” during the briefings.

White House Chief Of Staff: "We've Looked At" Changing First Amendment

Q: Is POTUS considering a constitutional amendment to change press laws?

PRIEBUS: "I think it's something that we've looked at." pic.twitter.com/fwZRMvsEjz

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 30, 2017

Fox News' Chris Wallace To Reince Priebus: "You Don't Get To Tell Us What To Do Any More Than Obama Did"

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus got into a heated discussion this morning with Fox News' Chris Wallace over the media coverage being biased against President Donald Trump.

From Mediaite:

Priebus expressed his frustration with news outlets running untrue stories about the White House and Russia. He also railed against the use of anonymous sources and said the reports about Trump advisors being in “constant contact” with Russian intel officers and that the intel community allegedly withholding information from the president are both inaccurate.

Wallace circled back to the press issue and said there’s nothing wrong with criticizing media bias, but Trump’s tweet went well beyond that. “We don’t have a state-run media in this country,” Wallace said. “That’s what they have in dictatorships.”

Priebus pointed to breathless scandal coverage compared to the minimal coverage given to the administration’s accomplishments so far. Wallace pushed back on that assessment and told Priebus this:

“You don’t get to tell us what to do any more than Barack Obama did. Barack Obama whined about Fox News all the time, but I gotta say, he never said we were an enemy of the people.”

Reince really gets into "cry baby" mode here. Interesting that at one point Priebus backs himself up with a quote from an unnamed source, and when asked who that was Priebus says, "I'm not going to tell you."

But it's wrong for the media to use unnamed sources? #DoAsISayNotAsIDo

Watch below:

Dozens Of High Profile Republicans Beg RNC To Stop Funding Flailing Trump Campaign

Dozens of Republicans have penned an open letter to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus begging him to stop funding the flailing Trump campaign and shift those efforts to Senate and House races.

From Politico:

More than 70 Republicans have signed an open letter to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus urging him to stop spending any money to help Donald Trump win in November and shift those contributions to Senate and House races.

The letter comes as a number of Republican senators and high-profile GOP national security officials have come forward saying they cannot vote for Trump.

“We believe that Donald Trump’s divisiveness, recklessness, incompetence, and record-breaking unpopularity risk turning this election into a Democratic landslide, and only the immediate shift of all available RNC resources to vulnerable Senate and House races will prevent the GOP from drowning with a Trump-emblazoned anchor around its neck,” states a draft of the letter obtained by POLITICO. “This should not be a difficult decision, as Donald Trump’s chances of being elected president are evaporating by the day.”

Donald Trump Says GOP Primary System Is "Unfair"

So, this is how a hypothetical Trump presidency would go? "That's not fair" every time something doesn't go his way?

Via The Hill:

Trump is furious with several aspects of the Republican nominating process, including how Colorado recently awarded all of its 34 delegates to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) without having a primary or a caucus. He doesn't agree that some delegates aren't bound to vote for their state or district winner at this summer's GOP convention in Cleveland.

“It should go to a vote in Colorado like other places. ... The best way to do it would be just a vote, should be a vote of the people. That's the way it should be done. The delegate situation is a very unjust way of doing things.”

In an emailed statement, Sean Spicer, the RNC's chief strategist and communications director, said, “Each state and territory submitted a plan on how to allocate and select their delegates last year. Those plans were made available to every campaign. Understanding the delegate selection and allocation is a basic part of the campaign.”

Republican National Committee Suspends Debate Partnership With NBC

I just sent this letter to NBC News suspending our partnership for the February Debate: https://t.co/MVke5m2EBm

— Reince Priebus (@Reince) October 30, 2015

Following this week's GOP presidential debate, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus sent a letter to NBC News stating the RNC is “suspending the partnership” with the network regarding a planned February debate.

The letter came in the wake of intense criticism of how the CBNC debate was handled earlier this week.

Priebus wrote that the partnership was suspended “pending further discussion between the RNC and our presidential campaigns.”

NBC has been scheduled to hold a GOP debate February 26 in Houston.

Although CNBC and NBC News are both owned by NBCUniversal, the two are separate entities; they have different management teams and different locations while often sharing and collaborating on news stories.

I watched the CNBC debate, and while I think the candidates over-reacted to the questions asked (many just ignored the questions), I did think the CNBC team wasn't prepared or tightly focused enough to keep control of the event. At times, the moderators didn't seem equipped nor ready with follow up questions.

(source)

RNC Taking All-Expenses Paid Trip To Israel With Hate Group

Why are members of the Republican National Committee taking an all-expenses paid trip to Israel on behalf of certified hate group American Family Association? A group that says gays are "responsible for the Nazi party" and that "atheist Jews" are one of the worst enemies of America?

RNC chairman Reince Priebus: Hillary Clinton's age & health are "fair game"

Hillary Clinton's age and health status are "fair game" if she should decide to run for the 2016 presidency, the Republican Party leader said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"I don't think there's a graceful way to bring up age, health and fitness for a candidate who wants to be president of the United States," said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus when asked about reports that Republican strategist Karl Rove claimed Clinton could have suffered brain damage from a blood clot two years ago.

"It was fair game for Ronald Reagan. It was fair game for John McCain," Priebus added.

Reagan took office in 1981 at age 69, and McCain was 72 on Election Day in 2008. Clinton is currently 66 years old.

Priebus added that he isn't convinced Hillary will run: "I actually doubt very much that she will decide to run in 2016," he said.

(source)

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus gets evasive with MSNBC's Thomas Roberts

Talking Points Memo points up a heated interview today by Thomas Roberts and the RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.

Priebus spent much of his air time decrying Obamacare saying no one in America wanted or had signed up for the new insurance exchanges. Roberts followed up with a line of questions wondering why the government has to be shut down for the House GOP to deal with making any fixes they want to Obamacare.

"Why do we need to attach the solutions or changes that go along with the law that has been vetted by the Supreme Court, by a mandate by the people reelecting the president and both houses of Congress," Roberts asked. "Why should that be attached to to shutting down the government and as the president is saying basically writing a ransom note and asking for some type of goody bag in response for Congress doing its job to govern?"

"Those are some pretty good talking points," the RNC chair shot back. "Let me just rewind."

"They're not talking points," Roberts interjected, referring to a speech Obama gave in Maryland moments before the exchange. "That's directly from what the president just gave us."

"I think you should apply for a job in the Obama administration," Priebus said later, after several minutes of sparring with the MSNBC host.

"No, I'll come work for you guys and help you sort out what's going on because your message is befuddled," Roberts said.

Good for Thomas Roberts for pursuing the answers to his questions.You can watch the exchange below:

RNC Chair Reince Priebus demands networks cancel Hillary Clinton documentaries

RNC Chair Reince Priebus has sent letters to NBC and CNN demanding recently announced films celebrating the life of Hillary Clinton be cancelled. The RNC sees the programing as a contribution of sorts to Clinton's possible campaign for President in 2016. Clinton has not announced whether she will or will not run.

As a result, the Republican National Committee says they will formally bar Republicans from partnering with the networks on any primary or Presidential debates in 2016.

Priebus wrote to CNN:

I find CNN’s actions disturbing and disappointing. Your credibility as a supposedly unbiased news network will most certainly be jeopardized by the decision to show political favoritism and produce an extended commercial for Secretary Clinton’s nascent campaign.

And to NBC:

I find this disturbing and disappointing. NBC cannot purport to be a neutral party in American politics, and the credibility of NBC News, already damaged by the partisanship of MSNBC, will be further undermined by the actions of NBC Universal executives who have taken it upon themselves to produce an extended commercial for Secretary Clinton’s nascent campaign.

Republicans must really be afraid of Hillary if they are making such demands when Hillary has made no announcement on the topic.

What's next? Anyone who might THINK of running, years down the road, cannot be profiled on TV? Ever?

Hmm....

(source)

Chris Matthews addresses GOP party playing the "race" card

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball," ripped into GOP chair Reince Priebus over Mitt Romney's "birther" joke last week and playing the "race" card in campaign ads.

Said Matthews: "It is an embarrassment to your party to play that card... This stuff about getting rid of the work requirement for welfare is dishonest — everyone's pointed out it's dishonest... And you are playing that little ethnic card there. You can play your games and giggle about it, but the fact is that your side is playing that card."

Priebus wasn't having it but Chris Matthews did not back down. Good for Matthews. Priebus and the GOP can sit back and deny, but what Chris Matthews says here is true. And the GOP knows it.