Kelly: I didn't want to leave DHS, but 'God punished me'

[DonViejo]

BY BRETT SAMUELS - 03/01/18 10:50 AM EST

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly joked on Thursday that he didn’t want to leave his position at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but “God punished me.”

“The last thing I wanted to do was 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 said at an event marking DHS’s 15th anniversary.

President Trump in July 2017 appointed Kelly as his chief of staff, moving him to the White House from his position at Homeland Security.

Kelly said he felt he had “no right” to sit on stage with other former DHS leaders, and told the crowd of department staffers he missed them “every day.”

more
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376234-kelly-i-didnt-want-to-leave-dhs-but-god-punished-me

Link to tweet

[spanone]

1. i can't imagine walking into that hell hole every morning....

not knowing what kind of mood the orange fucker will be in

[exboyfil]

10. He deserves all the suffering

Lying about the Congresswoman is inexcusable.

[spanone]

11. absolutely

[HopeAgain]

2. Poor guy can't lock up aliens while at the West Wing

like he could at DHS. Must be very hard for him.

[awesomerwb1]

3. Kelly said he felt he had no right to sit on stage with other former DHS leaders

We feel the same way you white supremacist POS.

[Autumn]

4. That's true, he has no right. He covers for Trump, he is a traitor to the security of our country.

[poboy2]

5. "...so to spite god I let wife beaters run the WH and compromised Nat'l. Security." -eom

[blake2012]

16. Bahahaha!

[gratuitous]

6. Poor John Kelly

But, unlike being black or gay, your vocation is a matter of choice, John. If it's such an onerous task, quit. Not interested in your first world problems associated with your chosen profession. Go volunteer for Habitat for Humanity or Doctors Without Borders. Do something useful for a change, see if you like it.

Until then, you're just a whiny asshole.

[Thomas Hurt]

7. Could it be...

that what he did wrong was work for the amoral sleaze Trump in the first place, and God punished him by bringing him even closer to Trump?

[Javaman]

8. fuck him, I hope he goes down in flames with the rest of the crooks. nt

[Bucky]

9. a man of deep faith and hubris

and distorted view of his own country

He's someone of whom I can say: he means well, he tries hard, and he's a nincompoop.

I completely disagree with his politics, but I don't think he's a crook and I'm grateful that he won the power struggle with Reince Priebus

[Proud Liberal Dem]

13. What

do you think he saved us from (re: Priebus)?

[Bucky]

17. As pathetic as it is that Trump populates his top spots with generals...

... I think there is at least the benefit of having advisors around him who care whether thousands of troops are killed or not. Priebus smells like a Neocon to me. By this point in his presidency, George W Bush had bumbled his way into one war and was ginning up a pretext to start a second one that was entirely optional.

As horrible as Trump will be for the economy, he seems to want to avoid a real war. I credit his generals for that inclination. I mean, generals are also more inclined to defer to a civilian idiot then the baby Machiavelli's who tend to populate Republican Administrations. So, it's a trade-off either way.

I would just prefer that the next Democratic president be focused on fixing a screwed-up economy instead of patching together yet another region of the world torn apart by unnecessary wars.

[awesomerwb1]

15. Did he mean well

when he advocated to separate children from their mothers at the border? Did he mean well when we angrily reached out to the sitting DHS secretary for not terminating TPS for Hondurans? Did he mean well when he said falsehoods about a congresswoman and never apologized?

We must have a very different definition of "means well'. He's a white supremacist who dictates immigration policy to Dump along with Stephen Miller.

[Bucky]

18. I never said he made good decisions

I'm just saying his bad decisions are not predicated on how much he can loot the joint.

Do you really think that if I had any admiration for the man, I would be posting in Democratic Underground?

[blueinredohio]

12. Homeland security was one of his greatest honors because he got to play soldier

and arrest all the bad illegal immigrants including kids and taking moms away from their kids

[Initech]

14. Yes sir, you fucked up when you trusted President Snake Oil.