Kelly: I Left DHS (For White House) Because ‘God Punished Me’

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly chats with reporters before a roundtable discussion on the MS-13 gang in the Cabinet Room of the White House on February 6, 2018 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN ... White House Chief of Staff John Kelly chats with reporters before a roundtable discussion on the MS-13 gang in the Cabinet Room of the White House on February 6, 2018 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

White House chief of staff John Kelly joked Thursday that leaving his post as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security for his current position was the result of God’s wrath.

I miss every one of you, every day,” Kelly told attendees with an eye roll during a celebration of DHS’ 15th anniversary. Kelly became DHS secretary when Trump took office, and took over the White House chief of staff position from Reince Priebus six months later. Kelly had earlier commanded the United States Southern Command through early 2016.

Kelly continued Thursday: “Truly, at six months, the last thing I wanted to do is walk away from one of the great honors of my life, being the secretary of Homeland Security, but I did something wrong and God punished me, I guess.”

Kelly has faced a tumultuous tenure, most recently due to a spate of senior staff departures: White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter resigned earlier this month after allegations (and photos) of spousal abuse went public. The FBI later said it had told the White House months ago about the allegations, increasing scrutiny over why Kelly hadn’t acted sooner.

And White House Communications Director Hope Hicks announced Wednesday that she would soon resign from that position, one day after an interview with the House Intelligence Committee.

Watch below via ABC News:

This post has been updated.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. She ain’t done yet, sir.

  2. Avatar for dont dont says:

    Karma’s a bitch.

  3. did he just commit seppuku?

  4. He apparently forgot she is a vengeful god, with a wicked sense of humor…

    Go forth from the frying pan, into the eternal fires of Donnieworld.

  5. When you work for and are obedient to Satan…

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

96 more replies

Participants

Avatar for clemmers Avatar for cervantes Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for bluinmaine Avatar for dont Avatar for daveyjones64 Avatar for thomasmatthew Avatar for tena Avatar for beattycat Avatar for clauscph Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for antisachetdethe Avatar for gusfabriani Avatar for marcc1213 Avatar for khyber900 Avatar for asturcot Avatar for timbo Avatar for katscherger Avatar for cub_calloway Avatar for maximus Avatar for edys Avatar for dangnewt Avatar for gregor Avatar for atldrew

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: