Mulvaney Brushes Off Trump Criticism From Ex-Admin Officials: ‘Inside Beltway Kind Of Discussion’
Former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney isn’t worried about President Trump’s re-election prospects in light of former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s damning tell-all book recalling his experiences in the Trump administration.
Mulvaney hopped on the Bolton bashing bandwagon during an interview on MSNBC Tuesday by criticizing the former national security adviser for being “tough to work with” and having an ego that is “too big to follow the President down any road.”
Mulvaney went on to add that Bolton “did whatever he wanted to do” and that he was “surprised when he was hired.” MSNBC’s Chuck Todd then asked whether the President has a “big hurdle” heading into re-election due to criticisms from a former defense secretary, a former chief of staff, a former national security adviser and a former secretary of state.
Mulvaney replied that he thinks the criticisms from former administration officials is “much more an inside the beltway kind of discussion.”
“I don’t think most voters really care what (former Secretary of State Rex) Tillerson thinks about the President or, quite honestly, vice versa,” Mulvaney said.
Mulvaney then argued that “we pay a lot of attention to it because we’re from Washington, D.C.”
“You’re from Washington, D.C. — I’m back home in South Carolina, thankfully,” Mulvaney said. “But, you know, it makes for a good news story for a couple days and I don’t think it drives an election one way or the other nor should it.”
Mulvaney’s latest remarks on Bolton aren’t far-fetched from those he shared with CNN last Friday when he defended the President against criticism following reports of bombshell revelations in Bolton’s book.
“If there was one criticism that I would level against the President it’s that he didn’t hire very well,” Mulvaney told CNN anchor Jim Sciutto in an interview on Friday. “He did not have experience in running government and didn’t know how to put together a team that could work well with him.”
Watch Mulvaney’s remarks below:
Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney reacts to President Trump facing criticism from ex-admin officials pic.twitter.com/YByuuN9Hae
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) June 23, 2020