GOP Rep. Marlin Stutzman (Ind.), who was reelected despite the midterm blue wave, might have put himself in political harm’s way by saying new White House chief of staff Stephen Miller should have been fired, not promoted, by President Donald Trump.
Calling it a mistake to replace Susie Wiles with Miller, Stutzman told CNN’s Manu Raju on Sunday: “I come from the business world just like President Trump does, and you know what? If your team takes a beating as badly as we took this last week, you have to fire people. You don’t promote those who are, who were in charge of what was supposed to be delivered.”
“The decision to [appoint] Stephen Miller is a mistake,” he continued. “He’s not liked out here in the Midwest by people. They don’t like his tone.”
Stutzman said Miller, the hard-line influencer of the president’s migrant crackdown, is perceived as not offering a “more comprehensive solution on immigration and that’s why I think it was a bad mistake.”
Asked by Raju if he thought Miller should be fired, Stutzman replied, “Yes.”
The congressman, who made a comeback to Capitol Hill in the 2024 election after a previous stint in the House, praised Trump for closing the border and “deporting criminals” but suggested the needs of people who were legally seeking citizenship were not addressed.
Stutzman said he wants Republicans to be like the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s “where we win and people love us.”
Stutzman praised Miller’s ability to fight Democrats and “socialism” ― but not in his new position. Miller was previously the deputy chief of staff.
The lawmaker’s pointed opposition to Miller’s appointment could anger Trump, Miller and other prominent White House figures amid floundering GOP morale. Democrats’ takeover of the House and Senate will hobble Trump’s last two years in office, perhaps one reason for the president’s elevation of the boisterous and combative Miller within his sphere.
