'Spilled the beans': Observers stunned as Stephen Miller freezes up after 'plenary' claim

Political observers blasted White House senior aide Stephen Miller's bizarre claim during a CNN interview about the scope of President Donald Trump's powers.

During an interview with CNN, Miller claimed that Trump has "plenary authority," meaning he has complete and absolute power on immigration and domestic law enforcement matters, despite what courts have ruled. After making the claim, Miller appeared to freeze on camera.

Observers shared their responses to the clip on social media.

"They're going for full-scale dictatorship," Democratic analyst Wajahat Ali posted on Bluesky.

"Oh this is not great," political commentator Molly Jong Fast posted on Bluesky.

"Looks like the US is heading towards dictatorship openly," military veteran John Topham posted on Bluesky.

"Invoking Trump as having 'plenary authority/powers' is a prelude to fascist takeovers in many other authoritarian regimes," Eric Feigl-Ding, chair of the New England Complex Systems Institute, posted on X.

"Stephen spilled the beans live on TV and this is what Hitler did with the Enabling Act of 1933," political pundit Mark Bloand posted on X.

"Miller is full of it," ethics lawyer Richard Painter posted on X. "Federal statutes strictly limit use of the military for domestic law enforcement, and @POTUS does not have 'plenary authority' to do anything he wants to do."