During Tuesday afternoon’s edition of CNN Newsroom, host Brooke Baldwin interviewed Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen, who recently published a column titled “What the Hell Happened to John Kelly?” In the column, Cullen explained that he initially supported the appointment of General John Kelly as White House Chief of Staff, making him the odd man out among his fellow columnists, but lost a lot of respect for him as a result of his tenure as Chief of Staff.
Cullen seemed to argue that Kelly’s association with President Trump tarnished his reputation, saying “a lot of what made John Kelly a very good military man does not work in the political arena, particularly when you align yourself with somebody like Mr. Trump, who is not presidential.”
Cullen’s CNN appearance was mild compared to his Boston Globe column. In the column, he referred to the President as “a mean-spirited ingrate” who “degrades the integrity of the office of the Presidency with every tweet, with every embrace of racists and racist thought, with every slight and insult of allies, with every defense of men who abuse women.” While these comments might seem extreme, it’s par for the course in the ultra-liberal Massachusetts.
Cullen went on to add “Trump’s obsession with degrading and dismissing a free press, and openly fantasizing about shutting down media outlets he doesn’t like, puts him in the category of tinpot dictators.” Maybe Cullen forgot that President Obama repeatedly criticized Fox News during his tenure. Does that make him a “crazy tinpot dictator?”
Cullen also criticized Kelly’s comments suggesting the group of illegal immigrants known as “dreamers” were “too lazy to get off their asses” and apply for protection under President Obama’s Executive Action known as DACA. Cullen resorted to the race card, saying “Last week, Kelly sounded like any number of vaguely racist callers to any number of radio talk shows, dismissing immigrants as lazy. Kelly is the chief of staff, not Rush Limbaugh.”
While it certainly looks like Cullen faces no danger of losing his job at The Boston Globe anytime soon, if all else fails, his hatred for President Trump has enhanced his qualifications for a new job: CNN contributor.
To see the relevant transcript from February 13's CNN Newsroom, click "expand."
CNN Newsroom
02/13/18
03:49 PMBROOKE BALDWIN: Sure. I mean, I’ve got you for two more minutes and, you know, here, you pose this big question and, and you wrote toward the end, we all grow up terrified of becoming our parents. What has happened to John Kelly is far worse. He has become his boss. What happened?
KEVIN CULLEN: No question. I mean, I think, what I was driving at Brooke, is that a lot of what made John Kelly a very good military man does not work in the political arena, particularly when you align yourself with somebody like Mr. Trump, who is not presidential and the idea that he will somehow be presidential and the idea that Mr. Kelly, as his Chief of Staff, can whip him into shape, I just don’t think it’s the same thing. I think once he entered this, this political arena and hitched his trailer to Mr. Trump, I think it was inevitable that Mr. Kelly would end up where he is. The moral company that guided, the moral compass that guided John Kelly the military man has given way to the situational expediency of a political man. And I find that tragic.
