Conservatives are showing their support for acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney following his disastrous press conference last week during which he admitted President Trump’s Ukraine quid pro quo.
According to a Politico report Thursday, a group of prominent conservatives — which include Ginni Thomas of Liberty Consulting, Tim Chapman of Heritage Action for America and David Bossie of Citizens United — plan to send a letter to the White House showing their support for the embattled acting chief of staff.
The letter praises Mulvaney for being “the most successful chief of staff in this administration to advance the Trump pro-America agenda,” arguing that recent news reports demonstrate how “the D.C. Swamp is attacking him.”
“Mulvaney has been a trusted ally of the conservative movement since his days in the South Carolina state legislature, and in the U.S. Congress,” the letter continues. “He is a proven leader, and an outspoken advocate of conservative principles and policies.”
The letter concludes with a call for Trump to make Mulvaney “permanent in the Chief of Staff role.”
ABC’s Jonathan Karl posted the letter on Twitter:
A group of conservative leaders plans to release a letter this afternoon defending Mick Mulvaney and calling on @realDonaldTrump to take the word “acting” out of his title:
“We believe the president should make him permanent in the Chief of Staff role.” pic.twitter.com/zzhDtqZ880
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) October 24, 2019
A source familiar with the letter told Politico that the conservatives hoped to gather more than 45 signatures by its 3 p.m. Thursday deadline before delivering it to the White House.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Trump began quietly testing the idea of replacing Mulvaney in the weeks before the acting chief of staff’s messy attempt to clean up his quid pro quo admission of withholding aid to Ukraine. It’s not clear how seriously the President was considering replacing Mulvaney.
CNN reported Monday that Mulvaney’s White House colleagues applauded him at a senior staff meeting after he admitted to having a “tough week” in the wake of the backlash he has faced from Trump and his allies over his stunning admission and clean-up efforts.
