Jun 12, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Cruz interviews Meadows about life as Trump's chief of staff

A monitor shows Ted Cruz interviewing Mark Meadows — Mark Meadows and Sen. Ted Cruz, with co-host Michael Knowles. Photo via @tedcruz

In an episode out today, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) lands White House chief of staff Mark Meadows for his podcast, "Verdict with Ted Cruz," which has had 10 million views and downloads since launching Jan. 21, amid the impeachment trial.

What they're saying: Regarding his West Wing routine, Meadows said, "I'll normally come in around 7:15. I get my daily briefing, which is an intel briefing at 7:30 that will scare anybody of all the threats that we get."

"We have a 15 minute meeting ... on the comms of the day. ... We go from there to a number of policy meetings. All of this is happening before 11. So you try to get in a full day's work before 11."

Meadows on midnight calls: "[S]o we have a church that was burning. I'm getting text messages in every way saying the president has got to do something. Washington, D.C., literally was burning. ... I'm on the phone with the president ... after midnight, and he says: 'Mark, we've got to get control of it.'"

"But that wasn't the first midnight call. ... [H]e calls the governor of Minnesota [Tim Walz] and says, 'Listen, I'm watching in real time what's happening in your cities there in Minnesota. ... We're going to send the National Guard. We'll help you.' And that was a president at almost 1 a.m."

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Cruz interviews Meadows about life as Trump's chief of staff

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