President Trump has spent the entire weekend holed up in the White House, voraciously consuming media coverage of his White House acting chief of staff and becoming increasing frustrated by Mick Mulvaney’s messy attempts to clean up his quid pro quo admission last week.
According to CNN, Trump was not thrilled with Mulvaney media performances this weekend, including the interview he gave to Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.” Wallace outright asked Mulvaney if he considered resigning after the stunning press conference Thursday, in which he admitted to reporters that there was a discussion of withholding aid to Ukraine in exchange for an investigation into a right-wing conspiracy about an alleged DNC server in Ukraine. Later on Thursday Mulvaney tried to walk back his admission by denying he said what he actually said.
During the Fox News interview, Mulvaney clearly struggled to push back on Wallace’s grilling, continuously arguing that he was misinterpreted. When asked whether he offered to resign after the presser, Mulvaney said “absolutely not.” CNN reported over the weekend that prior to the launch of the impeachment inquiry, some aides attempted to push Mulvaney out of his position.
According to CNN, Trump is growing increasingly annoyed that Mulvaney can’t seem to properly communicate the White House’s impeachment message and spent the weekend watching the news and taking calls from allies who criticized Mulvaney. While the acting chief of staff is reportedly in the hot seat, there has been no strong indication yet that Trump wants to get rid of him, CNN reported.
Trump growing frustrated with Mulvaney pic.twitter.com/lpuOBBn4xs
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) October 21, 2019
