A question in the form of a thread: I genuinely wonder how Chad Wolf is trying to position himself at this point. He’s become Trump’s first DHS head (acting) to fully embrace (& amplify) every politicized whim & crackpot demand from WH. And to try to identify himself w Trump. 1/
All of his predecessors (Kelly, Duke, Nielsen, McAleenan) did truly shocking things in support of the President’s agenda. But each of them tried to style him/herself as an independent actor, struggling to balance a department against an erratic President. 2/
That struggle was a cynical act, to be sure. But it reflected some recognition and awareness of a life beyond Trump; that they’d have to answer for themselves in some fashion, however superficially, down the line, whether in the private sector or in future public service. 3/
Then you have Wolf, who by every account is about the farthest thing from an ideologue or true believer you can get. We’re talking about an opportunist who’s spent most of his career drifting between the private sector (lobbying) and low-level DHS jobs. 4/
To my mind, Wolf & Miles Taylor (Nielsen’s former chief of staff) are foils. At the present moment (upcoming election, uncertainty abt the future of Trumpism), Taylor takes a leap away from the Trump Era, and tries to rebrand himself (publicly endorses Biden, gets on TV, etc). 5/
Wolf does the opposite. A former DHS source told me early in Wolf’s tenure as acting secretary that he was biding his time (& beefing up his CV) before rejoining private sector. And yet so much of what he’s saying & doing is, objectively, a permanent blight on his record. 6/
So what’s the calculation? Is there a calculation? End/
