Reince Priebus found himself out of a job Friday as President Donald Trump announced in a tweet that Gen. John Kelly, who currently heads the Department of Homeland Security will now serve as the White House Chief of Staff.
Priebus ousted on Twitter. Really
And he announced his decision in these tweets, according to Raw Story:
I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
…and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
He followed that up with a tweet thanking Priebus for his service:
I would like to thank Reince Priebus for his service and dedication to his country. We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017
Over the last few days there was plenty of speculation that he might soon be out of a job, especially after Anthony Scaramucci, the White House’s new Communications Director openly feuded with him in his very first week on the job, telling The New Yorker:
“Reince is a f*cking paranoid schizophrenic.”
A source close to Priebus told CNN’s Jim Sciutto that he submitted his resignation to Trump on Thursday.
New: A source close to now former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus says he resigned privately yesterday
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) July 28, 2017
In an interview with the network’s Wolf Blitzer, Priebus repeatedly stated that he handed his resignation to Trump on Thursday, but on Friday, sources close to him claimed he wasn’t resigning.
Then shortly after 5 p.m. Friday, Trump tweeted his announcement just after landing on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, near Washington.
The move follows months of speculation that he would be ousted after constant criticism for failing to stem the torrent of leaks and his apparent inability to instill a sense of order in a White House roiled by controversies.
Trump originally brought Priebus on board because of his Washington connections, but he wound up shouldering a hefty portion of blame thanks to the White House’s many legislative missteps, especially the latest failure when the Senate shot the GOP’s healthcare bill down in flames.
Kelly’s first day in his new role as White House Chief of Staff begins Monday, and he’ll attend a meeting of Trump’s Cabinet, said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Priebus was returning with the president after they attended an event on gang violence in Long Island. He was sitting inside a Secret Service van when Trump made the announcement. The van exited the motorcade and headed for Washington before Trump got off the plane.
In the interview with Blitzer, Priebus seemed relieved and even had compliments for Kelly.
“I think General (John) Kelly is a brilliant pick. We’ll be working on a transition here for a couple of weeks together with General Kelly starting on Monday morning. So this is not a situation where there are a bunch of ill will feelings.”
Priebus seems happy to be leaving
And he won’t have to be killing any more flies for his boss, Raw Story notes. Unbelievably, this is something Trump had Priebus do.
The Washington Post reports:
“At one point, during a meeting in the oval office, a fly began buzzing overhead. As the fly continued to circle, Trump summoned his chief of staff and tasked him with killing the insect, according to someone familiar with the incident.”
Priebus regularly felt demeaned by Trump, and this fueled his decision to leave.
“Allies to Priebus said he told them he had resigned because the internal chaos had become ‘unsustainable’ and that he felt demeaned by the president’s treatment of him.”
Which makes me wonder: With all this drama and unrest inside the White House, who’s minding the country? It’s not the GOP, who are still licking their wounds over their deceased healthcare plan. And it’s not Trump, who spends most of his time golfing or erupting on Twitter.
So really, who’s running this Popsicle stand?
You can watch Blitzer interview Preibus in the video below.
Featured image from YouTube video.
