Maura Gillespie: ‘A Lot of the Real Work’ on Trump’s Nominee Confirmation Success Happens ‘Behind the Scenes’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
LLENAS: “Maura, let’s start off with these two full screens to show our viewers what we’ve seen here. President Trump batting a perfect — he’s pitching a perfect game, 16-16 here on confirmations. And now he’s got Kash Patel coming up for confirmation as Chad Pergram said this week. It seems like Lori Chavez-DeRemer as his pick for labor secretary could be an issue for Republicans. What are your thoughts on the remaining confirmation battles ahead and the fact that the president has gone 16-16?”
GILLESPIE: “Thanks for having me, Bryan. I think one thing that’s important is the behind-the-scenes conversations that are happening and the role that J.D. Vance and others in the Trump White House are playing in giving some of these senators the assurances. I think Tulsi Gabbard, a lot of senators were right to have concerns and probably still do, but they end up voting for her because they trust the Trump White House more than they trust her. So giving her their vote is really giving Trump their vote and saying, okay, we stand with you, we’ll pass this one through. I think for the ones that are coming up, Kash Patel, there’s been some concerns about whether he’s already directing things that are going on at the FBI, so I think some senators will certainly want to have more clarity there. We’ll see how that kind of plays out. But again, I do think a lot of the real work and conversations that are happening are happening behind the scenes and trying to quell some of those concerns senators may have.”