Top Trump Adviser Gives Corporate Media ‘Civics Lesson’ During White House Briefing

White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller gave members of the corporate media a two-minute “civics lesson” on the Constitution and democracy during Thursday’s White House press briefing.

Democrats and corporate media figures repeatedly labeled President Donald Trump a “threat” to democracy during the 2024 presidential campaign and have targeted Tesla CEO and Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chairman Elon Musk by calling him an “unelected” bureaucrat. Miller’s comments came after he was asked a question by Gateway Pundit reporter Jordan Conradson about the media.

“You’re tempting me to say some very harsh things about some of our media friends. Yes, it is true that many of the people in this room, for four years, failed to cover the fact that Joe Biden was mentally incompetent and was not running the country,” Miller said. “It is also true that many people in this room who have used this talking point that Elon [Musk] is not elected fail to understand how government works, so I am glad for the opportunity for a brief civics lesson. A president is elected by the whole American people, he is the only official in the entire government that is elected by the entire nation, right? Judges are appointed, members of Congress are elected at the district and state level, just one man in the Constitution, Article II, has a clause, known as the vesting clause, and it says that the executive power shall be vested in a president. Singular. The whole will of democracy is imbued into the elected president. That president then appoints staff to then impose that democratic will on to the government.”

“The threat to democracy, the existential threat to democracy, is the unelected bureaucracy of lifetime-tenured civil servants who believe they answer to no one, who believe they can do whatever they want without consequence, who believe they can set their own agenda, no matter what Americans vote for,” Miller continued. “So, Americans vote for radical FBI reform, and FBI agents say they don’t want to change. Or Americans vote for radical reform under energy policies that EPA bureaucrats say they don’t want to change. Or Americans vote to end DEI, racist DEI policies, and lawyers at the Department of Justice say they don’t want to change. What President Trump is doing is he is removing federal bureaucrats who are defying democracy by failing to implement his lawful orders, which are the will of the whole American people. Thank you.”

The FBI and other agencies have come under fire for abuses targeting Trump and other elected officials. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) issued an opinion in June 2022 stating that the FBI improperly used powers granted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to gather information on an unnamed United States senator and other officials after a petition by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), according to Just The News. (RELATED: ‘You’re Demonizing An Entire Workforce’: Jake Tapper Aghast When Trump Advisor Says Gov’t Workers Are Often ‘Far Left’)

The FBI also obtained warrants under the act to monitor communications by Carter Page and other associates of Trump during Trump’s successful 2016 campaign for the White House. The application relied on evidence from the now-discredited Steele Dossier.

MSNBC hosts and guests routinely hyped the claims that Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with the Russian government to defeat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, citing the discredited dossier.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org