Enough by Cassidy Hutchinson

Author:Cassidy Hutchinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2023-09-26T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

I was at my desk when the news broke that the Supreme Court had declined to hear the Texas case. The press, legal experts, and most Americans had expected the decision, and it was a cause for celebration for many. But in the West Wing, it felt like the final blow. I sympathized with my colleagues who mourned our second term, but privately, I was relieved we had reached what seemed like the last impasse. The legal challenges had been disorganized and unserious and had only succeeded in embarrassing the president. I wanted the chaos to subside so that we could prepare for the next phase of our careers, and encourage the president to leave with his dignity intact.

After a Christmas reception in the residence that night, Mark asked if I had thought any more about going to Florida. I said that I had, and that I was leaning toward going. He asked if I had had any other job conversations. A few people had reached out, but there were no offers I was seriously considering, I told him. He said to let him know either way as soon as I decided. I promised I would, and then he told me that Jared had asked whether I might be interested in moving to Miami with him. I declined without hesitation and told Mark that if I were going to uproot my life in Washington, I wanted to continue serving the president. Mark agreed.

Mark and I were walking through the Rose Garden colonnade later that evening when we crossed paths with the president, who was beside himself about the Supreme Court’s decision. While they spoke, I stepped back and stood across from the president’s valet.

“They got it wrong, Chief. How did this happen? Why didn’t we make more calls? We needed to do more. Okay? We can’t let this stand,” the president raged. Mark tried to reassure the president, asserting there were still other options on the table, and he was going to figure it all out. The president pushed back. “I don’t want people to know we lost, Mark. This is embarrassing,” he said. “Figure it out.” Mark assured the president that he would work on it.

I was irritated that Mark gave the president false hope. Of course, that’s what the president wanted to hear, but he was damaging the country by concocting false rationales for perpetuating a fight that was now certainly a lost cause.

It was also upsetting to witness the president so distraught. He looked run-down, defeated, almost frightened, like a hollowed figure of himself. He tried to cancel his trip the next day to the Army-Navy game at West Point, unwilling to be seen in public after the Supreme Court rejected his token election fraud case. Eventually, we persuaded the president that canceling the trip would make him look weak—his greatest kryptonite.

“I think my life is about to get real tough for the next few weeks,” Mark remarked to me.

Mark had no idea how accurate he would be.

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