FAKE NEWS: John Kelly rebukes claim he called President Trump ‘moron’ or ‘idiot’
On Monday, White House chief of staff John Kelly released a statement attacking the mainstream media for their “total BS” report that he supposedly ridiculed President Trump and called him a “moron” during a closed-door meeting. General Kelly categorized the alleged report as “another pathetic attempt to smear” those close to the president.
“I spend more time with the president than anyone else and we have an incredibly candid and strong relationship,” said Kelly.
“He always knows where I stand and he and I both know this story is total BS,” he added, referring to the report from NBC News. “I am committed to the president, his agenda, and our country. This is another pathetic attempt to smear people close to President Trump and distract from the administration’s many successes.”
NBC’s post, with a list of four authors (Carol E. Lee, Courtney Kube, Kristen Welker and Stephanie Ruhle) cited four unnamed “officials” claiming to have witnessed Kelly calling Trump “‘an idiot'” multiple times.”
More unnamed sources:
The private manner aides describe may shed new light on why Kelly now finds himself — just nine months into the job — grappling with diminished influence and a drumbeat of questions about how long he’ll remain at the White House.
“He says stuff you can’t believe,” said one senior White House official. “He’ll say it and you think, ‘That is not what you should be saying.'”
…The White House spokespeople said they haven’t heard Kelly talk about himself as the one saving the country, and that if anything he may have spoken in jest along those lines.
“He doesn’t even understand what DACA is. He’s an idiot,” Kelly reportedly said. “We’ve got to save him from himself.”
As noted by The Hill, “NBC cited eight current and former officials for its story.”
Zachary Fuentes, a top aide to Kelly who was in the room at the time the alleged remarks were made, also blasted the report. “It’s complete b.s.,” Fuentes said. “He never said that.”
Fuentes told The Hill that he has “never heard the chief of staff call the president an idiot.”
“Once a Marine, always a Marine, [he] would not tolerate anyone disrespecting the commander in chief,” the staffer said of Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general.