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Trump's Former VA Chief Just Explained How He Was Actually Fired, and It's Classic Trump
On Wednesday, Donald Trump, as he is wont to do, fired his Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin via tweet:
I am pleased to announce that I intend to nominate highly respected Admiral Ronny L. Jackson, MD, as the new Secret… https://t.co/YiQiyG8Xi2— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1522272668.0
....In the interim, Hon. Robert Wilkie of DOD will serve as Acting Secretary. I am thankful for Dr. David Shulkin’s… https://t.co/YTgVqILsvk— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1522272714.0
On Thursday, Shulkin took to the cable airwaves, appearing on MSNBC's All In With Chris Hayes and explained exactly how that all went down.
Fmr. VA Secy. Shulkin tells @chrislhayes Pres. Trump made no mention of firing him during a phone call yesterday, t… https://t.co/4cXHmPQRx6— All In with Chris Hayes (@All In with Chris Hayes) 1522369222.0
Turns out Shulkin had received a call prior to his firing, and Trump didn't mention a thing about terminating Shulkin.
"We spoke about the progress that I was making, what I needed to do from a policy perspective to make sure we are fixing the issues in VA."
Hayes was incredulous:
"You spoke to him, he made no mention of the fact that he was about to terminate you...Then you found out via tweet...."
Shulkin clarified the timeline:
"Right before that the Chief of Staff Kelly gave me a call, which I appreciated, he gave me a heads up, but that was much after the phone call."
If this sounds familiar, this is much the same way Rex Tillerson's termination happened, with a warning call from Kelly then a curt tweet that officially sent him packing.
Jaw-dropping appearance by David Shulkin—who was a cabinet sec’y earlier this week—on MSNBC with Chris Hayes— George Cerny (@George Cerny) 1522368732.0
The irony was not lost on Hayes that it appears that the man who made a name for himself with the catchphrase "You're fired" is actually unable to fire anyone in real life to their face.
Chris Hayes's fans weighed in on Twitter as well:
@allinwithchris @NBCNews @chrislhayes And yet it’s claimed that his tweets are not official communications.— Layna (@Layna) 1522370424.0
@allinwithchris @chrislhayes The words "cowardly, cruel, and unprofessional" come to mind when I think of anyone t… https://t.co/scRqBSzQ2A— Mary Redoutey (@Mary Redoutey) 1522395745.0
Interesting dilemma in the age of Trump:
@allinwithchris @chrislhayes How can the administration be in court arguing for the ability to block people when it… https://t.co/d4yBXJgEf7— David Rowinski (@David Rowinski) 1522370227.0
Pretty much:
@allinwithchris @chrislhayes The craziest thing about this is that I'm not even a little surprised. This sounds lik… https://t.co/mDzguogEax— Ron Idoko (@Ron Idoko) 1522376248.0
Rachel Maddow weighed in as well:
.@maddow to @chrislhayes: "I want to preserve for all eternity the look on your face while Shulkin was telling you… https://t.co/AEpE6SXrx3— All In with Chris Hayes (@All In with Chris Hayes) 1522371936.0