John Kelly Says a Reporter Told Him He ‘Had to Go,’ And No One Believes Him

NPR has released several new portions of their interview with John Kelly, but there are a lot of people who are having a difficult time taking his new remarks seriously.

In the new segment, Kelly calls the White House press pool “vicious” and “personal” in their coverage, whereas reporters at the Pentagon were “pretty professional” and “really good to work with.” As Kelly lamented that his first off the record conversation with a White House journalist was “immediately violated,” he offered this peculiar anecdote:

“After about six weeks in a job one of the reporters said to me, “Look you were our worst nightmare. This place was a clown show before you showed up. We didn’t think this president would last a year [or] 18 months. Now that you’re here, there’s order to the place. The leaks all but went away. So, sorry but you got to go.” So here I am, sitting, still here.”

As it were, several people from media and blue-check Twitter view Kelly’s claim as a joke at best, or completely made up at the worst:

About as credible as his timeline on Rob Porter https://t.co/JfLipjvXE0

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) May 11, 2018

And by reporter, Mr Kelly may have meant “internal monologue.” https://t.co/D0mRz5Mheh

— Alex Wagner (@alexwagner) May 11, 2018

If real (and it's worth skepticism) seems like the "Sorry, but you gotta go" part may have been in jest? https://t.co/tWYuS25SxD

— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) May 11, 2018

Yeah seriously – I wanna know who said this…. https://t.co/qxPGl8Lqpv

— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) May 11, 2018

John Kelly says a reporter told him six months in "Look you were our worst nightmare. This place was a clown show before you showed up… Now that you're here, there's order to the place… So, sorry but you got to go." What reporter?? https://t.co/4Kgzb5KVgt

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) May 11, 2018

Jim, from Paris. https://t.co/GGZqoY1gmT

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 11, 2018

Esteemed John Barron of the New York Daily Telegram of course. https://t.co/aBPtHklJhI

— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) May 11, 2018

Color me deeply skeptical of this anecdote https://t.co/JgwXNSF9rs

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 11, 2018

Struck me that way too https://t.co/yc2q3Vv6lo

— Margaret Sullivan (@Sulliview) May 11, 2018

This is bizarre, and part of me feels like it's a total fabrication. https://t.co/p27yCoZ0u3

— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) May 11, 2018

[Image via screengrab]

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