NBC’s Alexander to Kayleigh McEnany: Why Does Trump Keep Hiring ‘Dumb as a Rock’ and ‘Incompetent’ People

EXCERPT:

MCENANY: "Peter Alexander."
ALEXANDER: "Let me ask you if I can, Kayleigh. Why does the president keep hiring people who are dumb as a rock, overrated, way over their heads, wacko and incompetent?"
MCENANY: "So the president makes hiring decisions based on the fact that he likes to have countervailing viewpoints. I spoke to him this morning about the hiring of John Bolton in particular. He said I like to counterbalance my own opinion with individuals that oftentimes have the very opposite opinion of my own. He likes the model of having a team of rivals like we saw in President Lincoln's administration. I have been part of that. I often see rigorous debate and the president uses his gut and makes the best decision as to how to move forward. So that's what goes into his hiring practices and I think the team of rivals with President Lincoln worked quite well."
ALEXANDER: "There's obviously value in hiring a team of rivals. It's worked well in the past. But then if you are going to hire rivals, why hire rivals who are dumb as a rock, overrated, way over their heads, wacko and incompetent? How does that help the president and the country?"
MCENANY: "Well sometimes those rivals approve those labels to be true. And that's particularly true in the --" [crosstalk]
ALEXANDER: "Does that reflect on the president, Kayleigh?"
MCENANY: "That's particularly true in the case of John Colton who repeatedly praised the president, then turned. He's been widely criticized by the 'New York Times' for his book. I think John Bolton has proven himself to have those labels as true."