Trump literally could not find anyone willing to serve as his chief of staff, which is pretty amazing when you consider that the White House chief of staff is arguably the second most powerful person on the planet. They actually know more than the president since they basically get to decide who has access to the president. Of course, with Trump, controlling access is a challenge.
In obvious desperation amidst scorchingly contemptuous press coverage, Trump impulsively gave the job to Mick Mulvaney via Tweet, late Friday afternoon. Mulvaney will only hold the job in an “acting” or interim basis, and he won’t step down as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. To get an idea of how pathetic this is, Mulvaney is on the record as believing that Donald Trump is “a terrible human being.”
During a debate with his then-congressional challenger, Democrat Fran Person, on Nov. 2 of 2016, less than a week before Trump was elected president, then-congressman Mulvaney was blunt with those gathered at York Middle School in York, South Carolina.
After decrying the Democratic nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as a liberal who would take the country in the wrong direction, Mulvaney said he was supporting Trump, essentially by default.
“Yes, I am supporting Donald Trump, but I’m doing so despite the fact that I think he’s a terrible human being,” he said, according to a report in The State newspaper.
This is what passes for a good relationship for the president. Many sources, including the Washington Post, say that Trump and Mulvaney have an easy rapport and that the president hired Mulvaney primarily because he likes him.
In truth, he grew frustrated that he was being humiliated in almost ritual fashion as one candidate for chief of staff after another took a pass. Mulvaney is basically giving Trump a fleeting mercy fuck, and this is despite knowing full well that he will be serving a terrible person.
I’m sure this will end well.