Everything about that highly promoted New York Times “interview” with former Trump White House Chief of Staff John Kelly — a general, if you haven’t heard! — reeked of fakery. But a piece of audio from the recorded phone conversations between Kelly and the Times reporter that wasn’t released until two days after the article proves just how artificial it truly was.
The original article was published on Tuesday and included a mix of audio snippets and text quotes of Kelly, presumably offering his answers to questions that the reporter, Michael Schmidt, was asking. At the very bottom was a sound clip labeled, “Kelly on the Importance of Character Over Policy.”
“I’m not recommending anything to anybody,” Kelly is heard telling Schmidt. “I’m just saying — other than, that when you’re looking to vote for someone, regardless, you’ve got to, you’ve got to look at the character and all those kinds of things and then start looking at the individual’s policies.” (Must be nice to live so comfortably that you can afford to vote first and foremost based on whether someone seems pleasant enough rather than how that person’s decisions would literally change your life and your loved ones’ lives.)
In Thursday’s edition of the Times’ “The Daily” podcast, however, there’s a more extended version of that recording that precedes Kelly’s remarks. In that version, Schmidt says something first. “Is there anything else that we need to talk about or is this enough?” he says to Kelly. “I think it’s plenty,” Kelly replies.
