Sinister, Malevolent, Venomous: Stephen Miller Is Like No Other White House Aide in Modern US History
Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff, has never hidden his disfigured and dangerous psyche. But now Donald Trump has empowered him to execute his fascist impulses.
Over four decades as a journalist, I’ve covered seven presidents, 20 Congresses, and thousands of staffers. I’ve never encountered one as sinister as Stephen Miller.
I see it in the darkness of his eyes, the venom of his words, the malevolence of his affect. And also by the deliberate brutality of his campaign from the White House to deport immigrants and crush dissenters.
That Miller serves as the president’s top domestic policy adviser demonstrates the unique depravity of Donald Trump’s second presidency. So does the fact that Kash Patel commands the FBI, Kristi Noem directs the Department of Homeland Security, Pete Hegseth peacocks around the Pentagon, Pam Bondi stains the office of attorney general, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. runs the Department of Health and Human Services.
Donald Trump assembled this team to suit his twisted visions of vengeance, destruction, and self-aggrandizement. Never has a collection of people so unbalanced, unqualified, and unfit controlled the levers of federal government power.
This deserves a constant reminder.
The administration and its allies, hoping to mollify swing voters as well as excite their MAGA base, want Americans to think of this moment as just another swing of the political pendulum. But it isn’t.
During its long descent into extremism, the GOP has consistently deflected criticism by citing past Democratic actions and claiming “both sides do it.” They don’t. And the falsity of their false equivalencies has never been so easy to see.