New aide called Trump ‘a terrible human being’
VIDEO has emerged of Donald Trump’s latest chief of staff describing his new boss as “a terrible human being”.
The video of the remarks by Mick Mulvaney was taken during a debate with Fran Person, then his Democrat congressional challenger, in South Carolina less than a week before Mr Trump was elected president in 2016.
Mr Mulvaney is the third person to fill the role of chief of staff as John Kelly, a retired Marine general, vacates the position at the end of the year.
The US president turned to Mr Mulvaney, his budget director, to temporarily fill a position once seen as one of the most sought-after in the White House.
It will be Mr Mulvaney’s third job in Mr Trump’s government.
He is currently head of the Office of Management and Budget and for a time simultaneously led the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“Mick has done an outstanding job while in the administration,” tweeted the president as he announced the news.
The pair’s existing relationship was key to the appointment; Mr Trump likes Mr Mulvaney personally and they are said to get on well.
Whether the president has seen video footage of him being described as “a terrible human being” in 2016 is unclear.
Mr Trump is said to prize the former congressman’s knowledge of Capitol Hill and political instincts, which he believes could be valuable as his administration prepares for a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and the 2020 election campaign.
Mr Mulvaney, a former lawyer and restaurant chain owner, entered politics in 2006, when he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives, and later became a state senator.
In 2010 he was elected to the US House as Representative for the South Carolina’s 5th district, a seat he held until his appointment as OMB director in January 2017.