On December 22, president-elect Donald Trump announced that he would be appointing Jason Miller, a top spokesperson for his insurgent campaign, as the director of communications in his new administration—marking an apex in Miller’s meteoric rise.
Then, just two days later on Christmas Eve, Miller suddenly issued a statement saying that he would not be taking the job.
“After spending this past week with my family… it is clear they need to be my top priority right now and this is not the right time to start a new job as demanding as White House communications director,” Miller said. "My wife and I are also excited about the arrival of our second daughter in January, and I need to put them in front of my career."
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It is unclear what exactly happened in the span of those two days, or why Miller suddenly decided to abandon such a lofty position. As one Trump transition team source told The Daily Beast, Miller “was fighting hard to ensure he had a key role in the WH.”
But in political circles, the Twitter feed of Trump adviser A.J. Delgado is being mined for some clues.
On the afternoon of the 22nd, Delgado tweeted “Congratulations to the baby-daddy on being name WH Comms Director!” seemingly referencing Miller who had just earned the position.
Later that evening, Delgado tweeted: “So, an announcement forthcoming concerning the new Comms Director @JasonMillerinDC tonight,” which she followed with “The 2016 version of John Edwards,” the one-time presidential candidate who fathered a child with his mistress. The tweet appeared to be another reference to Miller. Those tweets have been deleted and Delgado’s account is no longer active.
Delgado did not respond to an email asking about the tweets and when Miller was reached on Saturday night to comment on his resignation, he simply emailed The Daily Beast: “Not going beyond my earlier statement, but thank you for reaching out.”
Delgado, for her part, continued going after Miller on Twitter on Saturday before scrapping her account entirely.
“When you try to put on a brave face and tweet about nonsense to distract, your feed looks like @JasonMillerinDC’s,” she mysteriously said. She intimated further that Miller was not leaving of his own accord initially. “When people need to resign graciously and refuse to, it’s a bit … spooky.”
Responding to another user on Twitter, Delgado explicitly said that she was referring to Miller who she said “needed to resign…. yesterday.”
It is unclear at this stage what if any role Delgado may have in the administration.
As for Miller, not everyone in Trump’s orbit was happy to see him exit the team.
“I don't know Jason well but he was a calm voice in an often chaotic scene,” Michael Caputo, a former adviser to Trump told The Daily Beast. (He later echoed the sentiment in a public tweet.) “I'm sorry to know he won't be in the White House. They need calm voices.”
Sean Spicer, previously named as White House press secretary, will now reportedly take over Miller’s role in the new administration.
On the 22nd—the day Spicer, Miller, and she were named to their administration posts—incoming counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway was interviewed on the Fox Business network. Asked how she would balance work and family life, Conway responded, “I don’t play golf and I don’t have a mistress, so I have a lot of time that these other men don’t.”
