White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller appeared to slip up in an interview Monday, admitting that he believes President Donald Trump possesses the authority of a dictator.
Miller, who has made himself the face of the Trump administration’s efforts to crush political dissent, made the comments while appearing on CNN to defend the president’s deployment of troops to Portland and Chicago, which have run into roadblocks from federal courts.
Given Miller’s comments, Sanchez asked, “Does the administration still plan to abide by that court ruling?”
Miller responded: “Well, the administration filed an appeal this morning with the 9th Circuit. I would note the administration won an identical case, in the 9th Circuit, just a few months ago, with respect to the federalizing of the California National Guard. Under title 10 of the US Code, the president has plenary authority, has…”
Miller then suddenly stopped speaking.
“Stephen? Stephen? Hey, Stephen, can you hear me?” Sanchez asked as Miller sat, wordlessly, his eyes blinking and darting around.
Sanchez then apologized, saying, “It seems like we’re having a technical issue,” before cutting to a break.
The recording of the interview reveals that there was not, in fact, a “technical issue.” Miller had appeared to cut himself off in the middle of his sentence before sitting motionless for approximately 15 seconds.
In a post with over 32,000 likes, one social media user speculated that it was because Miller had “said the quiet part out loud,” adding, “The plan wasn’t to be made public. Clearly, someone hit the panic button in his earpiece.”
After returning from the commercial, the interview continued. But the oddly specific phrase “plenary authority” was not invoked again. As the same user noted, the interview appears on CNN‘s YouTube channel, but has mysteriously been edited to remove Miller’s mention of “plenary authority.”
According to Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute, “plenary authority” refers to “power that is wide-ranging, broadly construed, and often limitless for all practical purposes.”
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But the reality is that the overwhelming majority can't afford to leave. Also, despite all the negative attention the US gets in this regard, much of the rest of the world is even more difficult to relocate to.
