As the swamp gels

With few allies left in the White House and a press office in disarray, President Trump has increasingly turned to Stephen Miller, one of the key architects of his hard-line immigration policies, to be the public face of his administration.

  MSN

If there's one face that's worse for America than Trump himself, it's Stephen Miller. Both politically and literally. (And after that ridiculous and laughable spray-on hair performance, even the hair is competition for worst.)

On Dec. 16, Miller went on CBS’ “Face The Nation” to declare that Trump was “absolutely” willing to shut down the government if his demand for $5 billion to fund a border wall was not met. Four days later, Miller got into a shouting match with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer as he argued for the wall. These appearances drew shocked reactions due to Miller’s high volume, extreme positions and combative tone.

[...]

Miller similarly raised eyebrows the last time he blazed across the media landscape in 2017, and was rarely seen in the public eye afterwards.

Trump’s reliance on Miller comes as the White House press operation has been rocked by reports of impending high-profile departures. These rumors have come as the president’s spokespeople have retreated from view as weeks have gone without on-the-record briefings. Since Dec. 19, Trump’s communications team hasn’t even accomplished its most basic task: distributing guidance detailing the president’s public schedule.

Rats will indeed leave a sinking ship.

While Trump launched his presidential campaign with blistering attacks on illegal immigration, Miller has been the mastermind who designed policies to target migrants. He was a major force pushing for Trump’s travel ban aimed at Muslim countries and the separation of immigrant children from their parents at the border.

“Nobody wants to defend Stephen’s positions, so they stick his ass out there,” the ex-transition team member said. “Stephen’s in the background telling everyone, ‘Max pressure, max pressure,’ and saying those things are feasible. Everyone who’s actually worked in policy is like, That can’t work, go defend it yourself.”

[...]

[A] former member of Trump’s transition team said Miller managed to survive in spite of these “strategic mistakes” because his ideas appeal to the president.

“The boss likes him,” the former transition member said of Miller. “He’s certainly not judged on his policy successes; all he has is failures."

[...]

These concerns have been fueled by dramatic staff turnover and continuing rumors of more imminent departures from the White House press office.

Indeed, just as Miller has stepped into the spotlight, some of the regular White House spokespeople have disappeared from view. Press secretary Sarah Sanders and Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah have both seen their public roles diminish since June when reports first emerged they were planning to depart the West Wing.

[...]

[Sanders'] retreat from the briefing room has coincided with a growing chorus of reports saying she is plotting an exit.

Yahoo News reached out to Sanders to ask about the criticism of the White House press operation and rumors of her impending exit. She answered with an email saying she’s “traveling” and asked for specific questions and details about this story. Sanders did not respond after receiving a list of queries.

[...]

In July, Shah was tapped to work on communications for the confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Brett Kavanaugh. By September, Yahoo News reported Shah had told multiple associates he planned to leave his post after Kavanaugh was seated.

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While Shah has stayed mum about his situation, he has removed his “principal deputy press secretary” title from his bio on Twitter.

[...]

The source said Sanders and Shah are both actively trying to leave the White House and have struggled to find new jobs.

Sanders interviewed with various companies and “everybody’s told her no. Sarah can’t find work. … Raj can’t find work either,” said the former transition team member.

Aw, gee. I wonder why.

According to [another] ex-official, the reputation the pair have earned as “serial liars” hurt their prospects for private sector work.

“What company would want to hire them?” the former official asked.

They can surely go on Fox News as "experts".

Both the ex-official and the second former White House staffer said they heard Shah would be off the White House payroll after the year ends. While the staffer said Shah was pursuing a job on Trump’s campaign, the other former official predicted Shah would not be offered a position there.

Sad!

Trump has already had five different communications directors. The former White House staffer also pointed to some lower profile departures and said they had a clear impact. The Trump administration has shed at least four assistant press secretaries resulting in vacancies and hasty promotions in a position the ex-staffer described as vital for “playing triage.”

[...]

The other former official agreed that the White House communications operation was understaffed, and suggested it would have a hard time finding new talent.

“No professional in good standing will even interview for a job.” The former White House official said, adding, “It’s a zombie comms shop. Night of the living dead.”

And even Bill Shine probably can't convince any Fox News personalities to come on board. The pay would be a demotion.

Still, I have faith that there are plenty of whores out there who would knock off their mothers to get a chance to work in the Trump White House. If they can't find anybody, my guess is it's the daunting legal situation that's preventing it.  And they've still got Kellyanne.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.