Michael Wolff: 25th Amendment discussed "all the time" in White House

Wolff explained that the "25th Amendment is a concept that's alive every day in the White House"

Published January 7, 2018 12:35PM (EST)

Michael Wolff; Donald Trump (AP/Carolyn Kaster/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Michael Wolff; Donald Trump (AP/Carolyn Kaster/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Michael Wolff, the famed author of the new book "Fire and Fury," said that staffers inside the White House discuss invoking the 25th Amendment "all the time."

NBC's Chuck Todd asked Wolff if he had left out any "good stuff because it got in the way of the narrative." The author has dominated news cycles for the past week, and his book has been quite difficult to keep on the shelves.

On Sunday's "Meet the Press" Wolff explained that if he "left out anything" from his book, "it's probably stuff that was even more damning" of the White House and the Donald Trump presidency.

"It's that bad," Wolff told Todd. "It's an extraordinary moment in time, and the last several days focused on my book, I think are proof of this. What happened here? What's going on here?"

Wolff went on to say that it's "not an exaggeration and it's not unreasonable to say, this is 25th Amendment kind of stuff."

In the aftermath of former President John F. Kennedy's assassination, the 25th Amendment was ratified "with the goal of providing a thorough outline for what should happen in the event that the president or vice president should be killed, incapacitated or resigns from their office," as Salon previously reported. The rule essentially establishes what would take place if the president was "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office." For months, some Democrats have also called for Trump's impeachment.

But Wolff didn't stop there, he also said that this is a topic frequently discussed inside the White House.

"Did anyone say that in the West Wing to you?" Todd asked.

"All the time," Wolff replied.

"They would bring up the 25th Amendment?" Todd asked again.

"Yes, actually they would say ... 'we're not at a 25th Amendment level yet,'" Wolf explained. "It's alarming in every way. So 25th Amendment is a concept that's alive every day in the White House."

Wolff has been heavily criticized by the GOP and the Trump administration for his book and has been targeted on Twitter from Trump himself. The talks of the 25th Amendment have undergone a surge recently as a result of the book, and after dozens of lawmakers met with a Yale psychiatrist about Trump's fitness for office.

In response, Trump sent a barrage of tweets on Saturday that discredited the idea he was unfit for office, and referred to himself as a "very stable genius," as Salon previously reported.

Watch the interview below:

 


By Charlie May

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