have worked with him in the past, is this isn t a gig he was jonesing for, and how i view it as a big part of the reason he took this position is that the president asked him too, right? secretary kelly is not a political ladder climber. obviously you have to have some sort of political background to get to be a four-star general, but this isn t someone who based on my understanding had any sort of electoral ambitions. but given his time in the military, give his understanding of the importance of authority, hierarchy, chains of command, if the president asked him to do something, which is obviously the case, he wouldn t say no. and i think the important counterpart to that is in the same way that general kelly didn t want to say no to the president, he ll expect his subordinates not to say no to him. that s why you re seeing scaramucci on his way out with potentially others to follow. al, my experience in politics and government in washington tells me that general kelly better have
no particular job that puts you closer to the epicenter of the d.c. beltway than being the president s chief of staff. my understanding based on conversations with current and former officials, with folks who have worked with him in the past, is this isn t a gig he was jonesing for, and how i view it as a big part of the reason he took this position is that the president asked him too, right? secretary kelly is not a political ladder climber. obviously you have to have some sort of political background to get to be a four-star general, but this isn t someone who based on my understanding had any sort of electoral ambitions. but given his time in the military, give his understanding of the importance of authority, hierarchy, chains of command, if the president asked him to do something, which is obviously the case, he wouldn t say no. and i think the important counterpart to that is in the same way that general kelly didn t want to say no to the president, he ll expect his subordinates
individually and in terms of his administration as a whole. al hunt, so we have an irish guy from boston, chief of staff of the white house. i think the last one of those might have been kenny o donnell for president kennedy, no relation to me. but he s not a political guy. this is someone who has been in the military. this is someone who is accustomed to people following orders. he s accustomed to having a lot of honor and decency around him in the workplace. what s your prediction for how general kelly manages this new white house? well, as the guest in your previous segment said, i think it s an impossible task, and i don t think he will succeed. i would just add one thing to what betsy said. not only does trump not have respect for the law, he is to be perfectly candid a chronic liar. he s pathological about it. any good lawyer really has difficulty with a client who is a pathological liar.
al, general kelly has a lot to deal with, not the least of which is this latest maneuver being rumored about that the white house seemed ready to spike today, which is moving of jeff sessions, new attorney general, firing of mueller. it sounds like that was a kelly-authorized statement today with 100% confidence and no one s moving. yeah, it does, lawrence. look, the only the whole jeff sessions brouhaha was about one single thing, that trump wants to get rid of bob mueller. in his mind, the question is how does he do it and will he do it. it has nothing to do with jeff sessions. there s no policy disagreements with jeff sessions. he s furious about mueller being there. what he s furious about, we can all speculate. what he s trying to hide, we can all speculate. but, you know, it s remarkable. this should not be on the table. there is no one in law enforcement who could manage the kind of bipartisan respect that bob mueller does. he s doing the job. it s a serious investigation, a
view, and betsy woodruff, a politics reporter for the daily beast. al, general kelly has a lot to deal with, not the least of which is this latest maneuver being rumored about that the white house seemed ready to spike today, which is moving of jeff sessions, new attorney general, firing of mueller. it sounds like that was a kelly-authorized statement today with 100% confidence and no one s moving. yeah, it does, lawrence. look, the only the whole jeff sessions brouhaha was about one single thing, that trump wants to get rid of bob mueller. in his mind, the question is how does he do it and will he do it. it has nothing to do with jeff sessions. there s no policy disagreements with jeff sessions. he s furious about mueller being there. what he s furious about, we can all speculate. what he s trying to hide, we can all speculate. but, you know, it s remarkable. this should not be on the table. there is no one in law enforcement who could manage the