Last week’s Florida school shooting arrived as good news for no one, but a new Washington Post report indicates that some in the White House secretly saw the tragedy as a “reprieve” from scandals currently plaguing the Trump administration. The publication sources an anonymous White House official who describes a West Wing “under siege” due to a mountain of controversy, and “some aides privately acknowledged that the tragedy offered a breather from the political storm.”
Is it true? Last Wednesday did see plenty of drama piled up in the White House. Trump’s alleged affair with Playboy playmate Karen McDougal was making waves, and porn star Stormy Daniels was saying she was free to discuss her alleged affair with Trump after his personal lawyer oddly started talking. John Kelly was prepping to speak to the press about his (mis)handling of the Rob Porter scandal, but that appearance was cancelled when Nikolas Cruz walked into Stoneman Douglas High School and opened fire.
The anonymous official told The Post that a “beleaguered” White House staff was able to escape all of the “trivial” drama and “focus” on attempting to unite the nation after another tragedy:
“For everyone, it was a distraction or a reprieve,” said the White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect internal conversations. “A lot of people here felt like it was a reprieve from seven or eight days of just getting pummeled.”
The official likened the brief political calm to the aftermath of the October shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 dead and hundreds more injured. That tragedy united White House aides and the country in their shared mourning for the victims and their families.
“But as we all know, sadly, when the coverage dies down a little bit, we’ll be back through the chaos,” the official said.
Yikes. This isn’t even close to a good look, but it’s true that Rob Porter and the alleged Trump affairs have received very little attention after the massacre. Even a report that Trump polled Mar-a-Lago guests on whether he should push for gun control isn’t nearly as embarrassing as those stories that dominated before the Parkland, Florida tragedy.
Well, this matter may come up at Tuesday’s White House briefing, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders sure won’t be happy to hear it mentioned.
(Via Washington Post)