ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos and Chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl talked about the latest Donald Trump bombshell, involving his former chief of staff John Kelly on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.
According to a new book, “The Divider: Trump in the White House,” Trump asked Kelly “Why can’t you be like the German generals?” When Kelly pressed him on which German generals Trump was mumbling about, he specified “Hitler’s generals.”
"Some of the most damning critiques of Donald Trump's character and competence come from those who served in these top national security positions," Stephanopolous remarked to Karl. Both Stephanopoulos and Karl have written books about the Trump administration, and have interviewed dozens of former Trump administration officials.
"I'll go further than that, George,” Karl added. “The most damning critiques of Donald Trump, and the most dire warnings about what it would mean if you came back into the White House, came from people who served him closest in his administration, in the most sensitive and important positions.”
“Let me just go through a few of them,” Karl says, explaining he’s written down some of the names since there are so many. He starts with former Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump seems to have wanted to be killed by his MAGA mob for not complying with the attempted coup on Jan. 6, 2021. In the proceeding years, Trump hasn’t let his foot off of that threatening pedal.
“There's Rex Tillerson, who was his secretary of state, Bill Barr, who was attorney general. John Kelly, Mark Milley,” Karl continues. “Mark Esper, who was his defense secretary, Jim Mattis, who was his earlier defense secretary. Dan Coats, who was in charge of national intelligence."
ABC included images of other Trump administration officials, including his former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who has said his former boss is “unfit to be president.”
Former multi-job-having Mick Mulvaney has waffled about whether or not Trump did anything illegal on Jan. 6. He resigned, however, on the night of Jan. 6, saying “That was a time when we needed the president to be the president, and he wasn’t.”
The group Karl lists has been very public in their admonitions about what a second Trump administration would mean for America. Milley called Trump “fascist to the core,” according to Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward. Esper has spoken openly about being worried to leave the Trump administration for fear that the budding fascist would implement more of his “dangerous ideas,” such as asking in 2020 whether or not the federal government could begin shooting Black Lives Matter protesters.
The slimy Bill Barr has criticized Trump’s mental fitness and narcissism. Coats reportedly told Bob Woodward that he suspected Russian President Vladimir Putin was blackmailing Trump with some compromising information. Coats has also warned that Trump’s mishandling of sensitive intelligence information could very well lead to serious ramifications.
It’s all hard to ignore when the calls are coming from inside of the house.
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