CHIEF OF LAUGH
Reince out after being mocked Kelly named new top Don aide
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S embattled chief of staff was put out of his public misery on Friday as he parted ways with the White House.
Reince Priebus’ exit capped a humiliating week in which he was labeled as a leaker, a felon and called a “paranoid schizophrenic” by a West Wing colleague and saw his fellow Republicans fail to repeal Obamacare.
The President announced on social media that retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, the current secretary of homeland security, will replace Priebus.
“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,” Trump tweeted.
He also thanked Priebus, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, for his service, saying he was “proud” of him.
While White House staffers maintained the departure was in the works for weeks, the abrupt announcement came a day after it was revealed newly minted Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci blasted Priebus in a profanity-filled rant during a phone call with a New Yorker reporter.
Scaramucci accused Priebus of being a “leaker, called him a “f--ing paranoid schizophrenic,” and accused him of attempting to “c---block” him from a post in the White House.
The hiring of the loudmouthed hedge fund manager and Trump disciple had already led to former press secretary Sean Spicer, a close ally of Priebus, resigning in protest last week.
Priebus officially joined him on Friday, although he told the Wall Street Journal, “I resigned privately yesterday (Thursday).”
One White House adviser told the newspaper that Trump was upset with his chief of staff for not standing up for himself in the face of Scaramucci’s foul-mouthed attacks.
But Priebus didn’t seem to enjoy much sense of job security during his six-month tenure.
There were constant rumblings that Priebus never had Trump’s full confidence — and he was roundly mocked for his at times over-enthusiastic praise of the President.
Priebus effusively thanked Trump for the “opportunity and the blessing” of working for him during a full cabinet meeting in June.
“The President wanted to go in a different direction,” Priebus told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Fri- day. “I’m always going to be a Trump fan.”
Trump’s tweets announcing the latest staff shakeup came as he and his staff landed at Andrews Air Force Base Friday afternoon.
The outgoing staffer made no mention of his impending exit as he joined the President on his trip to Long Island.
“We didn’t even know it,” said Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who was also on the flight. “Good poker face, showed nothing.”
Asked if Trump called for his resignation, Priebus told CNN, “No. I resigned and he accepted it.”
Priebus was considered Trump’s strongest link to the GOP establishment. The 45-yearold Wisconsin native rose through the ranks of the Republican Party to become chairman in 2011. He has enjoyed a long relationship with House Speaker Paul Ryan.
“Reince Priebus has left it all out on the field, for our party and our country,” Ryan said Friday. “He has served the President and the American people capably and passionately.”
The departure caps a volatile week for the Trump administration. The White House faced intense backlash after Trump announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military on Twitter. Hours ahead of Priebus’ exit, the Republican-led Senate failed to pass legislation that would have repealed Obamacare, one of Trump’s signature campaign promises.
Priebus’ term was the shortest for any President’s first White House chief of staff since the post was established in 1946.
Alert social media users on Friday pointed out a five-year-old Trump tweet.
“3 Chief of Staffs in less than 3 years of being President: Part of the reason why @BarackObama can’t manage to pass his agenda,” Trump wrote in 2012.