Mick Mulvaney, who was the temporary head of staff in the Trump administration, criticized retired Gen. John Kelly for reportedly sharing multiple discussions where former President Trump reportedly praised Adolf Hitler and his ability to inspire loyalty in his military.
Kelly, who was Trump’s chief of staff from July 2017 to January 2019, revealed to CNN anchor and chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto in a new book that Trump occasionally admired leaders, including Hitler, allegedly stating, “Hitler did some good things.”
In an interview on “The Hill” on NewsNation, Mulvaney condemned Kelly for making these claims about Trump and insisting that he had never heard Trump mention Hitler by name.
Mulvaney succeeded Kelly, serving as the temporary head of staff from January 2019 to March 2020.
“Now, it's really interesting that many people who accuse Donald Trump of not reading are now not only accusing him of reading but reading Hitler’s speeches at night,” Mulvaney expressed.
“This is truly outrageous,” he continued. “I never saw anything close to this. I spent more time with Donald Trump than John Kelly did. John Kelly hates the president. I don’t know why he viscerally can’t stand him. Why he’s choosing to do this, I’m not really sure, but I never heard Donald Trump mention the word Hitler, and I certainly never saw him reading any of the other speeches.”
Mulvaney has been critical of his former boss but, on Tuesday, said he always makes sure to do so “in a respectful manner.” Mulvaney urged Kelly and the public to stop comparing GOP presidential candidates to Hitler.
“This is not, this is not right. John needs to shut the hell up,” Mulvaney said.
In response to the report in Sciutto’s book, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung criticized both Kelly and John Bolton, the former national security adviser to Trump, who have each said critical things in the past about Trump and were quoted in Sciutto’s book.
“John Kelly and John Bolton have completely disgraced themselves and are suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. They need to seek professional help because their hatred is consuming their empty lives,” he wrote in the statement.
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