Donald Trump reportedly told aides that it was a mistake to fire Michael Flynn, POLITCO reports. Trump has said that he thinks Flynn is a "good man" and regrets dismissing him and is apparently "obsessed" with defending him.
(Emphasis added)
But the Flynn situation has been different, several officials and advisers said. “I was kind of stunned,” one person said. “I asked him. You fired him already. What are you going to do?”
Trump has grown obsessed with defending the tough-talking 58-year old general, repeatedly telling aides and associates in private that Flynn was a “good man.” One adviser close to Trump said he’s heard Trump defend the general using the exact words described in reports of memos written by former FBI director James Comey recording his conversations with the president — and that Trump has told people inside the White House he wished the investigation would go away.
It has left White House officials and outside advisers perplexed: Why is Trump so determined to defend a man at the center of a federal investigation that is damaging his administration, and a man he has accused of lying to his vice president?
Well, this is certainly an odd wrinkle in a story that seemingly gets weirder by the day. Flynn had to go--that seems to be clear to everyone but Trump. It's inexplicable why Flynn appears to be the hill that the president is figuratively willing to die on. There's something to be said for loyalty, but this seems to be madness.