Watch out, Paul Ryan
BY PRIYANKA ARIBINDI, BRIAN BEUTLER
& CROOKED MEDIA
Tuesday, March 13, 2018 | | |
ROUGH DAY IN THE BOARDROOM | Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this morning via Twitter after the White House claimed he was told to resign this weekend. The White House also fired Tillerson’s top aide, Undersecretary of State Steve Goldstein, after he contradicted that account by telling reporters Tillerson “had every intention of staying...The Secretary did not speak to the President and is unaware of the reason." Regardless, firing America’s top diplomat via tweet is ice cold. No heroes in this story though. Tommy thinks Tillerson was “probably the worst Secretary of State in modern history. He gutted and demoralized the department and got nothing done. I’m worried about what happens next, especially for the Iran nuclear deal, but Rex had to go.” Tillerson also got a tax break for his trouble. Oh and of course: TIllerson’s firing comes ONE DAY after he joined the U.K. in blaming Russia for an assassination attempt on British soil—a step the White House noticeably did not take yesterday. Trump has since offered his support in saying Russia must provide answers in the attack, according to the U.K. To replace Tillerson, Trump will nominate CIA Director Mike Pompeo—a Koch-backed Benghazi conspiracy theorist who had to be corrected by his own agency when he claimed Russian election meddling attempts didn’t affect the election outcome. And who’s Trump’s new choice for CIA Director? Pompeo’s controversial deputy Gina Haspel. While Haspel has been praised by high-level intelligence officials in both parties, she also led a controversial “black site” in Thailand, overseeing the torture of two detainees and then played a role in the destruction of video evidence of their interrogations.
The Purge continues! The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman warns that more “major personnel shifts” are expected. This could include National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, who is expected to go next, or Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, who Trump is considering replacing with Energy Secretary/gaffe manufacturer Rick Perry. Man, at least it’s Friday.
| As of now—the time we hit send on What A Day—it is too close to call in the special election between Democrat Conor Lamb and Republican Rick Saccone in the Pennsylvania 18th, but here’s what we know: A 93% white, working-class Congressional district that Donald Trump won in 2016 has swung by nearly 20 points towards a Democratic candidate in 2018. One Democratic strategist puts that in perspective: There are over 100 Republican-held seats that are more Democratic than the Pennsylvania 18th. Democrats only need 24 of those to take back the House. Republicans tried to campaign on their tax cut. It failed. They tried to campaign on crime and immigration. It failed. They spent more than $9 million on the race. It failed. And they sent Donald Trump there—twice. Didn’t work. Because of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to reverse the gerrymandered Pennsylvania districts, the 18th probably won’t exist in November. What mattered tonight is that so many working-class Trump voters decided to pull the lever for a Democrat. Watch out, Paul Ryan. | | |
Trump’s personal assistant John McEntee was fired and escorted out of the White House on Monday. Don’t worry: McEntee, who is currently under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security for financial crimes, has landed on his feet. This morning, the Trump re-election campaign named him as a senior adviser for campaign operations. Of course. An ICE spokesman resigned, saying “I quit because I didn’t want to perpetuate misleading facts.” Weird. A lot of people have been able to do it without a problem. Two of Roger Stone’s associates (including Sam Nunberg) say he claimed he spoke with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2016. Stone says the allegations are “provably false.” Now, the director of the documentary “Get Me Roger Stone” also says Stone was trying to reach Assange during the 2016 campaign. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the Parkland shooter. Trump wants to start a “space force.”
Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid broke up, and that is very newsworthy information to some of us who write this newsletter.
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On Pod Save America: Live from Dallas, Pod Save the People’s Brittany Packnett talks about arming teachers: | | |
This morning, 7,000 pairs of shoes were placed in front of the U.S. Capitol to represent every child who has been killed by a gun since Sandy Hook. | Tomorrow is the National School Walkout, a day in which students and teachers around the country will walk out of their classrooms for 17 minutes at 10 a.m. to honor the 17 lives lost in Parkland. The goal is to push for congressional action on gun control, including an assault weapons ban, universal background checks, and laws that would allow courts to consider removing guns from people who display warning signs of violence. After the walkout, students and their supporters will take the fight to the “March For Our Lives,” on Saturday, March 24. There are currently 730 events planned worldwide.
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| As part of National Geographic’s “Race Issue,” the magazine hired a historian to examine their past coverage of people of color. Now the Editor in Chief has written an honest letter admitting that they had a long history of racism: “Until the 1970s National Geographic all but ignored people of color who lived in the United States, rarely acknowledging them beyond laborers or domestic workers. Meanwhile it pictured “natives” elsewhere as exotics, famously and frequently unclothed, happy hunters, noble savages—every type of cliché...[we] did little to push its readers beyond the stereotypes ingrained in white American culture.” Read → | Vanity Fair is calling Goldman Sachs’ new CEO “one woke dude” because he voted for Hillary, wants their employees to have “more humane” work hours, and DJ’s on the side… | | |
Not a real quote, but it feels close enough. | | |
