Senior white officials told ABC News on Thursday that President Donald Trump will not fire Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt amid liberal pundit and media attacks against the agency head.
Multiple senior White House officials told ABC News that the president will continue to back the EPA chief.
One senior official said, “We’ve been looking into all the accusations, but nevertheless Trump isn’t fazed. You would have thought after Chick-fil-A that would have done it, but he’s not going anywhere.”
Media reports alleged that Pruitt used his office to contact the chief executive of Chick-fil-A to obtain a franchise for his wife, Marlyn.
Pruitt told one news outlet, “My wife is an entrepreneur herself, I love, she loves, we love Chick-fil-A as a franchise of faith, and it’s one of the best in the country and that’s something we were very excited about.”
Several leftist reporters, pundits, and politicians came out recently to attack Pruitt and subsequently call for him to drop out.
CNN, the Washington Post, and other outlets have attacked Pruitt for renting out a condominium owned by lobbyists.
Kevin Minoli, the principal deputy general counsel for the agency, hit back at the reports, arguing that the housing arrangement did not amount to an unethical gift.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) called for Pruitt to resign earlier this week, saying, “ He is about as swampy as you get here in Washington, D.C. And, if the President wants to drain the swamp he needs to take a look at his own cabinet.”
President Trump defended Pruitt at an event on Wednesday.
“Administrator Scott Pruitt, thank you. EPA is doing really well. You know, somebody has to say that about you a little bit,” Trump said.
Trump continued, “You know that, Scott. You have done, the EPA is doing so well, so many approvals and disapprovals … People are really impressed with the job being done.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.