Hey, remember the Trump administration? It was that time when a morally and financially bankrupt reality TV star became president after a campaign that appealed to most Americans’ worst instincts? And then we all had to spend the next four years nervously finding out if he was actually going to make good on all the things he promised to do?
Yeah, that was a hoot.
Most political operatives, recognizing Trump as a serial liar and unserious person who is largely interested in serving his own interests, did not join his administration. But some people very much did! Whether it was because they believed they could serve as some sort of bumper to soften the blow of Trump’s policies, or because they truly believed in his constantly shifting ideology, people signed up for the full Trump experience.
Now some of those folks — who, again, freely and willingly joined the Trump administration and lent it legitimacy — have decided that the prospects of another Trump term like the one that they participated in simply cannot be allowed, because it took them four years to figure out what most of us already knew. According to a report from CNN, around three dozen former Trump administration officials are joining forces with the goal of preventing their one-time boss from ever occupying the Oval Office again.
Leading this team are some of the stars of the Extended MAGA Cinematic Universe. Miles Taylor, a former Homeland Security official otherwise known as “Anonymous,” who wrote the book A Warning, reportedly led the call. On the line were mustachioed war criminal and former National Security Adviser John Bolton, America’s favorite sleazebag and unit of measurement Anthony Scaramucci, and Trump communications director turned CNN commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin, among others. Many members of the call are remaining anonymous as the group finds its footing — so far, it’s nothing official, just an informal collection of likeminded individuals who all happened to make the same mistake of serving under Trump.
Retired Marine general and Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly — the mythical “adult in the room” — was also reportedly on the call, the highest ranking official to join and likely the highest- profile dissenter from Trumpworld. But he told CNN that he was only listening in for about 10 minutes — which is frankly probably plenty long enough to listen to some self-important ghouls talk about how they’re going to save the world. Stephanie Grisham, Melania Trump’s former chief of staff who eventually served as Trump’s press secretary and just wrote a very conspicuous book, also told CNN she’s working with the group but couldn’t be on the call because she is recovering from COVID.
Anyway, the chat supposedly lasted a full hour, during which the individuals apparently discussed a number of ways to hit Trump during his expected candidacy. Included in their long list of ideas: highlighting Trump’s corporate contributors and backing candidates running against Trump-endorsed politicians. Cool, yeah, great ideas everyone. No one else thought of that, for sure. And even that effort seems unlikely, as CNN reports that Kelly is hesitant to make endorsements.
More than what they will do, the group appears to have agreed on what they won’t do: no Lincoln Project-style trolling and ad-bombing (though I bet some members of MAGA Anonymous wouldn’t mind raking in the cash that the grifters over at the Lincoln Project pulled in), no strongly worded letters, no ineffectual press statements. Bummer that the first reports of the group’s existence feel exactly like that, but, we’ll see.
So, the group has no money, no plan, no real structure, no official membership, and no agreed upon goal. What does it have? Well, according to CNN, the group was in agreement that they don’t know what to do and they are already way behind Trump’s efforts to get re-elected. Sounds like that conference call could have been an email.
