Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Is Reince Priebus Being Targeted?

Poor old Reince Priebus, RNC chief turned to Trump's Chief of Staff, must be feeling like he's got a bullseye on his back.

It started over the weekend when longtime friend and ally to Trump, Christopher Ruddy, publicly said that Priebus wasn't up to the job:
One of President Trump’s longtime friends made a striking move on Sunday: After talking privately with the president over drinks late Friday, Christopher Ruddy publicly argued that Trump should replace his White House chief of staff.

“A lot of people have been saying, ‘Look, Donald has some problems,’ and I think he realizes that he’s got to make some changes going forward,” Ruddy said in an interview with The Washington Post.

Ruddy went on to detail his critique of White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus: “It’s my view that Reince is the problem. I think on paper Reince looked good as the chief of staff — and Donald trusted him — but it’s pretty clear the guy is in way over his head. He’s not knowledgeable of how federal agencies work, how the communications operations work. He botched this whole immigration rollout. This should’ve been a win for Donald, not two or three weeks of negative publicity.”
But on Monday, when Comrade General Michael Flynn fell on his shashka, things really escalated quickly.

Briebart, the official Trump news outlet, ran a story questioning Priebus' longevity in the Trump misadministration and accusing him of being behind Flynn's ouster:
Citing several anonymous White House sources, Breitbart News posted a story Tuesday questioning the future of Kenosha-native Reince Priebus as President Donald Trump's chief of staff.

Following the resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, the story by the conservative web site carried the headline "As Flynn Resigns, Priebus Future In Doubt As Trump Allies Circulate List of Alternate Chief of Staff Candidates."

Breitbart cited multiple sources with "internal knowledge of White House operations." The Breitbart sources blamed Priebus and the "GOP establishment" for forcing out Flynn over his contacts with the Russian ambassador before the election.

The sources also blamed Priebus for not getting congressional Republicans to approve Trump cabinet nominees in a timely fashion.
But with all things Republicans, there's more. There's always more.

Now, keep in mind that the Brietbart sources are unnamed, but I have it on good authority that the initials of the source are Steve Bannon. (Like that was hard to figure out. Bannon and Priebus haven't gotten along since day one.)

Brietbart also accused Priebus of knowing of Obama holdovers and doing nothing about them, feeling that is helping sabotage Trump's misadministration, as if it really needed any help:
But the broadest criticism of Priebus was the claim that he's aware of "as many as 50" holdover staffers from the Obama administration who are suspected of working against Trump.

“They’re hiding like sleeper cells everywhere,” one source told Breitbart News.

"Priebus has full knowledge of their whereabouts, who they are, and what potential for damage they may cause. He is not doing anything about it, these sources add," the story says.
Even though none of this is coming from Trump officially and even though he might not feel that way personally, keep in mind that Trump is very easily influenced, especially by those in his inner circle and by his sycophants. Even if Trump might not agree now, it won't be long before he starts to doubt Priebus.

I don't know if this is all right wing nuts scapegoating or if Priebus' days in government are numbered, but if I were him, I'd polish up that resume now.

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