Members of President Trump’s staff and Vice President Mike Pence’s aides aren’t getting along, according to a new report.
“A half-dozen Republicans, including four who advised or worked for Trump’s campaign or transition and are still in contact with their former colleagues, said they think the two sides are talking less, disagreeing more and occasionally bad mouthing each others’ bosses,” according to McClatchy.
Pence has shown a persistent loyalty to the president, but the report suggests that his team is frustrated with Trump’s lack of political discipline. The report coincides with the third day of Trump’s Twitter feud with MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mike Brzezinski, even as Pence and Republican lawmakers are attempting to negotiate a healthcare bill that can win enough moderate and conservative support to pass the Senate.
“There is clearly tension between the two staffs,” a former Trump adviser told McClatchy. “There’s so much internet chatter. That’s going to fuel the animosity.”
White House officials denied the report. “None of these ‘observations’ come from people who actually work inside either office,” Marc Lotter, the vice president’s press secretary, wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner. “It’s just simply not true.”
Pence is unfailingly positive in his public comments about Trump. “This is the greatest privilege of my life is to serve as vice president to a president who’s keeping his word to the American people,” he said during a recent Cabinet meeting.
