White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley and counselor Kellyanne Conway seemed to add more fuel to the fire that has emerged from Axios’ Sunday evening report detailing the Trump administration’s list of officials that it’s looking to oust.
Axios reported Sunday evening that for the past 18 months, the White House and its allies “assembled detailed lists of disloyal government officials to oust and trusted pro-Trump people to replace them.”
When asked about whether there is truth to Axios’ report during an interview on Fox News Monday morning, Gidley said that Trump has been “pretty clear about the fact that he wants people in this administration who want to forward his agenda.”
“Donald Trump was the only one elected,” Gidley said. “He was the only one that the American people voted for. They didn’t vote for someone at any of these other agencies, any of these other departments.”
After railing against the media for “pushing their own selfish political agenda” by reporting on federal government workers working against the President, Gidley argued that “every President, this one included, has the right to have people in positions that forward and execute his agenda.”
Asked again if there is truth to the lists reportedly being assembled by the administration, Gidley claimed that “if there are any lists, I’ve not seen them” but that “we know there are people actively working against this President.”
Fox News co-anchor Sandra Smith then asked if there are plans to actively fire any of those people on that list, which prompted Gidley to suggest that government officials who are deemed to be working against the President will face consequences.
“It’s not a secret we want people in positions that work with this President and not against them,” Gidley said. “Too often we have people in this government — the federal government is massive with millions of people and there are a lot of folks out there working against this President. If we find them, we will take appropriate action.”
Watch Gidley’s remarks below:
Gidley: "There are a lot of folks out there working against this President. If we find them, we will take appropriate action." pic.twitter.com/LbD0Bv9TkP
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 24, 2020
Later Monday, Conway was also pressed on Fox News about the White House’s reaction to Axios’ report, saying that “I differ a little bit with the details as they’ve been reported.”
While rambling about how “the most important list” is “people who want to work to promote the agenda and want to work on behalf of this country,” Conway argued that “we should not have people in government who are undermining the President’s agenda.”
When Fox News’ Harris Faulkner pointed out that the criticism from Axios’ report stems from Trump saying after his acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial that there may be payback for people who had gone against him, Conway responded that “the payback is coming through the nomination of Bernie Sanders.”
After sarcastically thanking Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Conway added that she’d like to thank Never Trumpers as well for “delivering Bernie Sanders as the possible nominee.”
Watch Conway’s remarks below:
Kellyanne Conway: "We should not have people in government who are undermining the President's agenda." pic.twitter.com/lFWvRsXUic
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 24, 2020
