Stephen Miller, Senior Trump Adviser, And His Tumultuous Sunday Morning

With KellyAnne Conway losing credibility by the minute and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer reduced to a Saturday Night Live caricature, the Trump Administration is in need of fresh faces to throw in front of an increasingly confrontational media.

Enter Stephen Miller, Senior Adviser to President Donald Trump. Miller made his Sunday morning talk show debut today with notable appearances on Meet the Press, Fox News Sunday, and This Week with George Stephanopolous. And depending on one’s point of view, Miller’s contentious interviews left you either infuriated or elated.

Stephen Miller squared off with ABC’s George Stephanopolous over Donald Trump’s false claim that “thousands” of voters were bused into New Hampshire and caused him to lose the state in the election. Trump made the assertion on Friday to a bipartisan room full of senators, which reportedly left the room in “uncomfortable silence.”

There is no evidence backing the claim.

But as any loyal political soldier worth their salt will do, Miller doubled down on Trump’s voter fraud fantasy when asked by Stephanopolous to offer proof.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9wo9DAVtko&t=103s

“Having worked before on a campaign in New Hampshire, I can tell you that this issue of bussing voters into New Hampshire is widely known by anyone who’s worked in New Hampshire politics,” Miller said. “It’s very real, it’s very serious. This morning on this show is not the venue for me to lay out all the evidence.”

Stephanopolous stopped Miller and reiterated his call for tangible proof.

“You just claimed again that there was illegal voting in New Hampshire, people bussed in from the state of Massachusetts,” Stephanopoulos said. “Do you have any evidence to back that up?”

Miller dodged the question and pointed to “highly qualified people,” namely Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach, who have “looked deeply into this issue.” In other words, Miller once again failed to offer Stephanopolous evidence of voter fraud other than to repeat the claim that it happened.

After the show, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen quickly responded to Miller on Twitter.

As everybody knows, Stephen Miller has no evidence of voter fraud in NH. This has been debunked. @realDonaldTrump didn't call for a recount

— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (@SenatorShaheen) February 12, 2017

Miller journeyed into friendlier waters with an appearance on Fox News Sunday hosted by Chris Wallace, but still managed to draw fire from the host. Miller was challenged by Wallace over the recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimous decision to uphold a lower court’s decision to put a temporary restraining order on Donald Trump’s travel ban. But his response was simultaneously predictable and chilling.

“The president’s powers here are beyond question,” Miller told Wallace. “The 9th Circuit has a long history of being overturned and the 9th Circuit has a long history of overreaching. We don’t have judicial supremacy in this country.”

Miller went on to list terrorist attacks inside the United States as justification for the ban, notably 9/11 and the mass shooting in San Bernardino. What he failed to answer, however, was how Trump’s ban, which restricts travel from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, would have prevented those events. The September 11 attacks were committed by nationals from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Lebanon, while San Bernardino was perpetrated by a U.S. citizen born in Chicago and his Pakistani wife.

Miller continued the same line of attack in an interview with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press, stressing how the ninth circuit took “power for themselves” and out of the hands of President Trump.

“A district judge in Seattle cannot make immigration law for the United States, cannot give foreign nationals and foreign countries rights they do not have, and cannot prevent the President of the United States from suspending the admission of refugees from Syria,” Miller told Todd.

A reading of the ninth circuit’s ruling shows that the court vehemently disagrees with Miller’s assertion.

“Although our jurisprudence has long counseled deference to the political branches on matters of immigration and national security, neither the Supreme Court nor our court has ever held that courts lack the authority to review executive action in those arenas for compliance with the Constitution,” the ruling said.

Miller’s seemingly scripted appearance triggered strong condemnation across the Twitterverse, though at least one person thought Miller was spot on.

Congratulations Stephen Miller- on representing me this morning on the various Sunday morning shows. Great job!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2017

[Featured Image by Susan Walsh/AP Images]