'Dead wrong' John Kelly smacked down by conservative for claim 'good people' went to work for Trump

In her column for the Washington Post, conservative Jennifer Rubin took issue with former Donald Trump White House Chief of Staff John Kelly that the people who took jobs working for the president were "good people... doing the best they could to serve the nation."

According to Rubin -- one of Trump's fiercest critics -- Kelly is "dead wrong."

In an interview with the Atlantic, the former Trump administration official lamented that White House staffers have "... unfortunately paid quite a price for that in reputation and future employment. They don't deserve that. They deserve better than that, because they kept the train from careening off the tracks."

Rubin begged to differ, saying none of them could claim to be victims.

"Their reputations have been besmirched for the best of reasons: They participated in an administration unparalleled in its corruption, meanness, racism and authoritarianism," she wrote before adding, "The excuse that things would have been worse without White House aides is weak, at best."

Noting the over 300,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19 on Trump's watch, she asked if they truly believe the death toll would have been higher if not for their efforts.

She then listed off a massive list of government failures over the past four years -- from Russian cyber-hacking to ripping children away from their immigrant parents and putting them in camps -- to make the case for the long-term damage done to the country.

Rubin then called out their cowardice and silence.

"The number of senior officials who quit on principle is close to zero. The number of former Cabinet officials who came forward during the impeachment to give testimony is zero," she recalled. "In many cases, aides personally broke norms and laws. How many Hatch Act violations did they commit? How many officials pushed through a national security clearance for Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, when he objectively would not qualify for one in a normal administration? How many took to social media to deceive their fellow Americans?"

Writing, "Trump could do what he did because of the John Kellys, the Kayleigh McEnanys, the Kellyanne Conways and many other aides whose names are not familiar to us," she concluded, "That these people are suffering damage to their credibility and condemnation from their fellow Americans is a positive sign our body politic still retains an appreciation for democracy and a moral compass."

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