The real reason Donald Trump just fired Mick Mulvaney and replaced him with Mark Meadows
Donald Trump’s White House Chief of Staff has been a lame duck from the start. He never did lose the word “Acting” from his title, even though he had the job for several months. Once he publicly confessed to Trump’s guilt in the Ukraine extortion scandal, it was seemingly all over for him. Still, it’s notable that Trump has finally ousted him this evening.
For starters, the timing of this – a Friday night news dump – makes clear that Trump isn’t looking to make headlines here. He’s hoping it’ll all be forgotten by the time the next crisis or scandal arrives on Monday. That’s not shocking, considering the mere mention of Mulvaney in this weekend’s upcoming headlines will serve as a reminder to the American public that Trump is guilty and deserved to be impeached.
Trump has announced that GOP Congressman Mark Meadows is his new White House Chief of Staff. This isn’t shocking either, considering how much of an effort Meadows has made at covering for Trump’s crimes. Meadows announced in late December that he wasn’t going to seek reelection. In light of today’s news, it appears that Trump had already tapped Meadows for Chief of Staff back then, and that he was merely waiting for the right time to dump Mulvaney.
What’s less clear is why Donald Trump considers this the right time. If Trump were merely waiting for impeachment to be over before sending Mulvaney packing, he could have done it a month ago. In any case, Meadows is stepping into the Chief of Staff role at a time when the coronavirus crisis is worsening, the economy is tanking, and Trump is even further off the deep end than ever. So… congratulations Mark Meadows?
