Republicans dish on why Trump won't get rid of Rudy
The White House has a reputation for having revolving doors — officials and aides often come in one day and are sent packing not long after. But one person who seems extraordinarily safe in President Trump's orbit is his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Several White House and Republican officials told The Atlantic on condition of anonymity that they wish the president would have dumped Giuliani a long time ago, before he ever got a chance to launch his quest for dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, which led to the impeachment inquiry roiling the White House. Yet those same officials acknowledge it's unlikely Giuliani is going anywhere.
One White House official said Trump "only has, like, six or seven friends in his life," and Giuliani is one of them. That loyalty stems partly from the longstanding relationship between the two that goes back several decades. Two former White House officials also cited Giuliani's impassioned defense of Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, especially after the leak of the Access Hollywood tape resulted in several other Republicans abandoning the future president, as another major factor in Trump's apparent devotion to America's Mayor.
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The loyalty may be real, but others provided a more skeptical reason for Giuliani's ability to hang around. "The damage is done," a Republican National Committee official said. "Rudy's been like this forever, and Trump has never wanted to dump him. Plus at this point, it's like, doesn't he know too much?" Read more at The Atlantic.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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