On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks argued that outgoing White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus never had an opportunity to his job and questioned the sanity of DHS Secretary John Kelly taking Priebus’ job.
Brooks said Priebus “was never given the chance to do the job. Every other chief of staff we’ve ever seen sort of controls the schedule. They control the tempo in the White House. They’re the alter ego of the president. They’re given some clear sign of respect that they speak for the president. And Priebus never had that. And so he was wounded and stabbed before Scaramucci came along. He was stabbed like a pinata. And so, he was sort of a pathetic figure hanging out there. And so, this is — doesn’t come as a total surprise, except for maybe the timing.”
He added, “As for General Kelly taking the job, I sort of question his sanity there. He’s been a loyalist, but I really — with all due respect to the Marine Corps, I don’t see how someone who’s been trained in a pretty orderly chain of command is going to survive this mess. If he can control the schedule, it’ll be one thing. I just don’t think that’s going to happen, given all the independent power figures all around him.”
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