John Kelly Is Not a Good Person

There’s something implacably unnerving about the way President Trump’s absurd behavior has compelled people into believing those he surrounds himself with are any less evil. Chief of Staff John Kelly stands out as one of those administration members whom the Trump-fearing public seems to have bestowed their faith.

Gen. Kelly, however, consistently proves he is not some guiding moral force in a demonstratively immoral White House. And if anyone wasn’t convinced that he remains just as depraved as his boss, please allow this anecdote provided by The New York Times to demonstrate otherwise:

This past summer, the Trump administration debated lowering the annual cap on refugees admitted to the United States. Should it stay at 110,000, be cut to 50,000 or fall somewhere in between? John F. Kelly offered his opinion. If it were up to him, he said, the number would be between zero and one.

Well thank fucking God the number of refugees accepted by the U.S. isn’t entirely up to him. Kelly apparently influenced the State Department’s decision, though, since it announced in September that the U.S will only grant asylum to 45,000 people next year—the lowest any administration has ever allowed.

Even his comments disparaging Rep. Frederica S. Wilson, who accurately described Trump’s remarks to a fallen soldier’s widow, proved to be a lie. Kelly, in an attempt to discredit Wilson, alleged she had bragged about securing funds for an FBI building in Florida by twisting President Obama’s arm, but video of the ribbon-cutting ceremony showed an appreciative Wilson and no claim of credit for the building’s funding.

Lest we also forget that Kelly orchestrated Trump’s maniacal war on undocumented immigrants. Kelly wasn’t simply performing his duties and obeying his Commander in Chief’s orders, he truly believes in the cause. Democratic members of Congress, however inclined they might be to wish Kelly was actually the “calming force” he was pitched to be, know this too well:

At a dinner including Mr. Trump and the Democratic leaders Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, Mr. Kelly gave an extended critique of Mexico, calling it a third-world country in danger of collapsing the way Venezuela has and arguing that the United States needed to guard itself against that, according to people informed about the conversation.

John Kelly has never been, is not, and will never be anything but Trump’s equal when it comes to ideologies. While he might not post every incendiary insult or thought he has on Twitter, Kelly, just like Trump, remains committed to a nationalistic vision of America that doesn’t include anyone who might not have been born here.