A hit piece published Tuesday in The Atlantic featured a claim from former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly that Trump had praised Adolf Hitler’s generals.
The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg highlighted Kelly’s claims, which he alleges happened more than four years ago. It’s a recycled claim from a 2022 book by New York Times reporter Peter Baker and New Yorker reporter Susan Glasser, titled “The Divider: Trump in the White House.” The pair wrote in the book that Trump had asked Kelly, “Why can’t you be like the German generals?”
The Atlantic hit piece also included a smear from unnamed sources that has been dismissed by on-the-record sources present at the meeting in question, as The Daily Wire reported.
Readers may also recognize Glasser’s name from her New Yorker article falsely claiming Trump made up a story about Vice President Kamala Harris supporting sex changes for illegal immigrants in prison. Yes, Harris said she thinks the government should fund them.
But back to John Kelly.
Kelly has a history of smearing Trump, like many former aides looking to continue their careers. He rebuked Trump for firing Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who leaked a private phone call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and gained hero status among the Left.
Kelly also attempted to recruit others to defy Trump when he was president, The Daily Wire previously reported. Kelly allegedly tried to recruit then-United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley to his group, saying he was doing it to “save the country.”
When Trump fired Kelly, the former four-star general was singing a different tune – defending Trump and saying he consulted multiple sources for information before making a decision.
Kelly also believed the false allegations of domestic abuse against former White House staff secretary Rob Porter. Kelly initially defended Porter, but then called claims from Porter’s ex-wife as “new allegations” and denounced domestic violence. Kelly, however, had access to Porter’s background file, and should have known of the dubious nature of the incident and the true story behind photos claiming Porter had punched his ex-wife.
In reality, Porter took the photos (his ex-wife initially claimed she had taken the photos herself) to document the bruise due to her taking prescription Accutane and other skincare treatments. The ex-wife didn’t say anything about the alleged incident shortly after she and Porter divorced and Porter received his first security clearance in 2008. The allegation only came up after Trump was elected and Porter’s ex-wife became politically active for Democrats. Even then, whatever she told the FBI during Porter’s background investigation couldn’t have lined up with what she told the tabloids, because no issues were flagged with Porter’s security clearance.
And then there’s the allegation that Kelly once shoved Trump’s daughter Ivanka in the West Wing. The allegation was made in Jared Kushner’s memoir, where he wrote Kelly had a “Jekyll and Hyde” personality. Kushner wrote that Kelly was angry with Trump one day and shoved Ivanka out of his way when she said “hello.” Kushner said Kelly later apologized to Ivanka. Ivanka confirmed the report and her former chief of staff confirmed the apology, though Kelly denies either event took place.
“It is inconceivable that I would EVER shove a woman. Inconceivable. Never happen,” Kelly told The Washington Post. “Would never intentionally do something like that. Also, don’t remember ever apologizing to her for something I didn’t do. I’d remember that.”
But Kelly expects people to believe that, just weeks before a presidential election, he remembered a damaging conversation with Trump from more than four years ago.
