General Discussion

bdamomma

(63,848 posts) Mon Jan 21, 2019, 02:33 PM Jan 2019

Stephen Miller has expanded his power in the White House 'because there is no one else there'

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/01/stephen-miller-expanded-power-white-house-no-one-else/?utm_source=push_notifications

Snip of article:

The federal shutdown over funding for President Donald Trump’s border wall entered its 31st day Monday, with 800,000 workers going without pay.

The Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief David Smith wondered Monday why Trump appears to be committing political suicide. After all, the border wall is not a popular idea: 69 percent of respondents polled by NPR in December said that the wall was not a priority for them. Unsurprisingly, a large number of federal workers oppose the shutdown, despite President Trump’s frequent claims that federal workers want a wall so badly they’re willing to forego pay.

Smith concludes that Trump continues to pursue the unpopular policy because many of the president’s more moderate advisors have vacated the administration, leaving extremists like Stephen Miller and Mick Mulvaney as the president’s chief counselors.

Miller helped craft the zero tolerance policy that led to kids getting separated from their parents at the border. He’s an ardent supporter of the wall. Meanwhile, Mulvaney’s brand of conservatism favors limiting the power of the federal government.

“Miller, 33, and 51-year-old Mulvaney have filled the vacuum in an administration where endless staff churn has left moderate voices marginalized or expelled,” Smith argues. “The pair have seemingly gained the upper hand over potential restraining influences such as Vice-President Mike Pence and Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner.”

Then, there’s perhaps one of Trump’s most trusted advisors: Fox News, which the president reportedly watches throughout the day.

Dan Cassino, an associate professor of political science, tells Smith about the likely influence of the network.

“Often Fox seems to be regurgitating Miller and Mulvaney’s talking points. Cassino observed: ‘It seems we have reciprocal causation. It’s hard to tell which is the dog and which is the tail. People in the White House know one of the best ways to influence the president is to get on Fox,” Smith notes.'”

Here is the proof we were looking for. Now this has to be publicized to the public to hear.