Former White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly said Saturday that he warned President Donald Trump that he would get impeached if he hired a “yes man” to replace him.
“I said whatever you do, don’t hire a ‘yes man,’ someone who won’t tell you the truth — don’t do that. Because if you do, I believe you will be impeached,” Kelly said during an interview at a political conference hosted by the Washington Examiner.
Kelly admitted that he had “second thoughts” about leaving, after watching the chaos take place in the White House in his absence.
“It pains me to see what’s going on because I believe if I was still there or someone like me was there, he would not be, kind of, all over the place,” he said.
Despite Kelly’s attempt to rein in Trump’s instincts, he ultimately resigned in December 2018 after a tumultuous period in the White House with warring political factions.
A former Marine general, Kelly appeared to resent his job at the White House, describing it as “bone-crushing hard” after he left and “the least enjoyable job” he ever had.
The general signaled disapproval with the way the White House was run in his absence under Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.
“The system that should be in place, clearly — the system of advising, bringing in experts in, having these discussions with the president so he can make an informed decision, that clearly is not in place,” he said. “And I feel bad that I left.”
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