A columnist Tuesday revealed how White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller has influenced the policies under the Trump administration — and why he wants people to fear him.
The Guardian's Arwa Mahdawi described how Miller, "the driving force behind the Trump administration’s most extreme policies," is craving immense power, but "is ultimately still just a man."
Some of President Donald Trump's aides have even reportedly begun referring to Miller as "prime minister." Behind the scenes, he has being credited with orchestrating the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and has hopes to remove birthright citizenship.
Despite these moves and wielding this power, Miller is simply one person, the writer argued.
"While the ghouls hellbent on bringing authoritarianism to America, and misery to their self-declared enemies, may think of themselves as demi-gods, they are, ultimately, just mere mortals," Mahdawi wrote.
Miller, the architect of Trump's anti-immigrant policies, including the family border separations during the first Trump administration, even bonded with his wife Katie, a right-wing podcaster, about their harsh stance. And although his own family escaped persecution in Europe as Jewish refugees, something his uncle has publicly slammed Miller for, Trump's "mastermind" has continued to push for these "aggressive tactics."
And he has one goal in mind, Mahdawi argued.
"What people like Miller want most of all is for us to fear them; that’s why they’re all so obsessed with talking about strength and force and power," Mahdawi wrote. "And, yes, we should all be afraid of Miller’s brutish vision of the world. We should be worried about what Miller is doing.
"But we should also make sure to laugh at him; there is nothing thin-skinned authoritarians hate more than being laughed at. And we should never forget that, amid all the trappings of office, Stephen Miller is ultimately just a pathetic little man. One who really likes mayonnaise."
The final dig is in response to Miller's wife revealing on her podcast that her husband eats mayonnaise by the spoonful.
'Ever since hearing that podcast, I’ve had intermittent intrusive thoughts of Miller standing barefoot in the luminous light of a fridge spooning mayonnaise into his mouth, straight from the jar," Mahdawi wrote.
" ... I think the reason the mayonnaise anecdote has stuck with me is because it’s a reminder that while Miller may be in a position of extraordinary power, he is ultimately still just a man, one who likely has grease stains on his T-shirts."