Mulvaney Rips Gen. Kelly’s Trump-Hitler Talk as ‘Outrageous’

Mick Mulvaney, who wore several hats in Donald Trump’s first administration, had stern words for former White House chief of staff Gen. John Kelly on Tuesday, blasting his former colleague’s “outrageous” assertions that Trump spoke highly of Adolf Hitler.

Kelly, Trump’s chief of staff from July 2017 to January 2019, told a CNN anchor that Trump thought Hitler “did some good things.” That CNN anchor used Kelly’s comments in a book that’s now out.

Mulvaney, who replaced Kelly as Trump’s acting chief of staff in January 2019, said Kelly “hates the president” in an interview with “The Hill” on NewsNation.

“This is really, really outrageous,” Mulvaney told the show. “I never saw anything close to this. I spent more time with Donald Trump than John Kelly did. John Kelly hates the president. I don’t know why he viscerally can’t stand him. Why he’s choosing to do this, I’m not really sure, but I never heard Donald Trump mention the word Hitler, and I certainly never saw him reading any of the other speeches.”

Kelly quoted Trump as saying that “Hitler rebuilt the economy” and “turned it against his own people and against the world.” Further, Kelly said Trump lauded Hitler for commanding “loyalty” from senior staff, something Trump didn’t have, according to Kelly.

“This is not, this is not right. John needs to shut the hell up,” Mulvaney said.

Kelly’s comments also got the attention of the Trump campaign.

“John Kelly and John Bolton have completely beclowned themselves and are suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. They need to seek professional help because their hatred is consuming their empty lives,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.

Bolton was also quoted for the book.

Mulvaney also was director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from February 2017 until March 2020, a period that overlapped his time as chief of staff. Mulvaney also served as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from November 2017 to December 2018. Finally, he was the U.S. special envoy for Northern Ireland from March 2020 until January 2021.