When Donald Trump made the stunning announcement that Stephen Miller is his new chief of staff–preempting the New York Times by a few minutes–I literally said:
“Watch for a barrage of negative Miller stories in the next couple of days.”
I was wrong.
It was the next couple of hours.
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MS NOW anchor Katy Tur said: “Donald Trump’s whole immigration agenda is Stephen Miller, and for Stephen Miller, it has always been absolutist: do whatever is necessary, as much as we can possibly do, be as cruel as possible as a warning sign for anybody who might want to come over.”
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“Stephen Miller, one of his most notorious staffers, will instead be taking over as chief of staff,” CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins said from the White House driveway, adding: “He was one of two staffers, including Kristi Noem, who came out after Alex Pretti was killed in Minneapolis and called him a domestic terrorist.”
That New York Times story: “Miller, a deeply ideological Trump loyalist, has been the architect of some of the most polarizing domestic policies in Mr. Trump’s second term.”
The conservative Federalist cited a past Miller comment on mass deportations: “At every turn illegal aliens have always been treated better than Americans.”
And then there are the Democrats. Rep. Robert Garcia, the expected incoming House Oversight chairman, said: “Stephen Miller is the architect of the unconstitutional ICE raids that have terrorized our communities and kidnapped and killed American citizens and immigrant families… Stephen Miller should lawyer up.”
Oh, and incoming Speaker Hakeem Jeffries called him “a dangerous xenophobe.”
Of course, it’s a huge story, and should be covered as such. It’s about his record, and, putting aside the adjectives, it’s fair game. My purpose here is not to either defend or criticize Miller, who has been one of Trump’s most powerful aides since the first term.
Miller is, without question, one of the hardest of hardliners.
I cannot remember this kind of all-out artillery attack, seconds after a top White House appointment was announced. I don’t think anything else comes close.
And the sheer velocity and global reach of this negativity is being fueled in the digital battleground of social media.
That evening was just the first line of shock troops, who struck as soon as Trump announced that Miller would replace Susie Wiles, who has battled breast cancer, as his top aide. By the next morning, the cavalry had arrived.
The Wall Street Journal called Miller an “advocate of the no-holds-barred style of governing that delighted the president’s most die-hard MAGA supporters—and was repudiated by much of the rest of the country on Election Day.”
Axios, describing Miller’s view of nearly unlimited presidential powers, said of Trump: “He’s prepping for war, and sees Miller as a brass-knuckle general and tactical expert impervious to criticism or traditional restraints.”
The New York Post, headlining the old beer ad “It’s Miller Time,” said that choosing the “pugnacious” official “removes almost all hope that the nation’s partisan warfare will ease after the elections.” The president is “going to bring his pit bull along.”
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The Times, in its pair of stories, played some of the 41-year-old Miller’s greatest hits.
“Those include separation of migrant families at the border; the 2017 Muslim travel ban, directing the government to stifle critics of Mr. Trump; the ending of nearly all U.S. refugee programs; the widespread pressure campaign against American universities; extrajudicial boat strikes that have killed hundreds; and purges of officials deemed insufficiently loyal to Mr. Trump.”
Miller also unleashed the military, “pitting masked, heavily armed immigration agents against residents of cities like Minneapolis and Chicago.” Fact-check: True.
Maureen Dowd, not to be outdone, denounced the “gaudy, corrupt, vice-ridden, heartless rule, we have been living in Trumpsville. The demonic Trump conjured an American hell.”
Miller hasn’t exactly stayed silent. He said Trump is “the most transformative political leader” in our history and has “single-handedly saved America from those who would destroy it.”
A day after the election, Miller led a call about pushing forward with mass deportations and, the Times reports, did not even mention the Democratic avalanche that was partially a protest against such policies.
The president says he loves watching the combative Miller on TV–a key credential for any Trump staffer.
Miller is certain to back Trump’s assaults on the mainstream media, ranging from denunciations and lawsuits to whether the press corps should be evicted from the White House.
Shortly before the election, Miller said on Elon Musk’s X that the Democrats have nominated candidates “who are all extremist, freaks and America-hating lunatics.” Miller urged voters to “send a message to the corrupt media, corrupt Democrats and corrupt left-wing politicians who want to steal your future.”
It’s not hard to see why Miller has a target on his back.
But imagine that Miller, who also urged his boss to wind down the Iran war, never joined the administration. Wouldn’t Trump still have pursued all these tough policies, starting with mass deportation? Clearly, it’s the commander-in-chief who decides.
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Other top aides and Cabinet secretaries have certainly been raked over the coals.
The media weren’t kind to Karl Rove, dubbed “Bush’s brain,” the strategist who was investigated in a CIA leak case but never charged.
Some were accused of being too close to the industries they regulated. Ronald Reagan’s Interior secretary James Watt ripped the environmental movement as a clash between “liberals and Americans,” and the Sierra Club collected more than 1 million signatures seeking his ouster.
But none of them were pummeled with the fierce intensity that has enveloped Miller.
As for the coming investigations, Todd Blanche announced that “the chief of staff already has a lawyer. The attorney general of the United States and the Justice Department.” With those words, the AG confirmed again that his department serves as the personal law firm of Trump and his acolytes.
Look, Stephen Miller is a brawler, the opposition party is spoiling for a fight, and that should provide the press and public with plenty of pounding in the political ring. But while Miller is now the most important staffer of Donald Trump’s last two years in office, remember, he is still a staffer.