A Democratic analyst revealed signs that President Donald Trump may not be running the White House during a podcast episode that aired on Monday.
Symone Sanders Townsend, a political strategist and host of MSNBC's "The Weeknight," joined Joanna Coles of The Daily Beast on the outlet's self-titled podcast, where the two discussed a recent press conference where Trump reportedly fell asleep for 20 minutes. Sanders said that the incident, among others, has made her question who is actually running the White House.
"It brought up the questions again about what the actual apparatus at this white House is and who is actually in charge here," Sanders said. "Because that can't be the first time the president fell asleep...So when that happens, who is making the decisions?"
Townsend also pointed out that Trump has appeared at bill-signing ceremonies where he seemed unaware of the bills he was being asked to put his name to.
"When the president was doing these public signings of these executive orders, and they come in and they explain to him with the executive order is and he's like, 'Oh, okay. Yeah.' I wonder, is that the first time you heard this?" Townsend continued. "Did the president not get it? Did the president sign off on this in advance? Who is signing off on the particulars of what is happening in this White House?"
"I harken back to Stephen Miller a couple of weeks ago doing interviews with reporters, and he was using terms like 'I' and 'we,'" she added. "When I worked at the white House, it is not 'I' or 'we,' it was 'The President' and 'The Vice President.' You serve at the pleasure of the President."
"And so we're using 'I' statements? Are you the one making the decision, Stephen Miller, about these strike force teams?" she asked. "How much aware is the president of what is going on? These are questions I think they deserve to be asked."
