Pence’s Former Aides Trade Barbs Over Trump Endorsement

Marc Short, the former chief of staff to then-Vice President Mike Pence, on Tuesday shot back at retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg’s criticism of him on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

When Kellogg, former national security adviser to Pence, endorsed Donald Trump for president in next year’s elections earlier this week, he slammed the former vice president as lacking the “bold and decisive leadership” that “we have seen in President Trump.”

“This lack of assertiveness, combined with an overreliance on failed political consultants like Marc Short, has demonstrated a laissez-faire leadership style unworthy of the presidency,” Kellogg added.

Short countered on CNN, saying that Kellogg had recently nominated Pence for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which “I don’t think is consistent with his comments of him lacking leadership skills.”

Short also harshly criticized Kellogg for his actions on January 6, 2021, during the attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying that he “did not stand at his post” that day and, instead, “was down on the rally, encouraging people to march on the Capitol.”

Short also read on CNN from an email he received that day from Kellogg, when he said, according to Short, “I recommend you stay on the Hill and finish the Electoral College issue tonight.”

When Short told him that was the plan, Kellogg reportedly responded by saying, “That’s not a good plan, that’s a great plan. Close this thing out tonight.”

Short emphasized that “On January 6, Keith was clearly supporting the vice president’s actions. I know that he’s still on Donald Trump’s payroll and perhaps that’s why he’s saying something different today.”

Kellogg currently works for the America First Policy Institute, which is a pro-Trump nonprofit.

Reacting to Short’s criticisms, Kellogg defended his actions on January 6, writing on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, that “saying I was ‘encouraging people to march on the Capitol’ is blatantly false and slanderous.”

Kellogg insisted, “I was standing my post. NSA was out of town, and DNSA was off that morning. It was policy to have a senior national security figure with POTUS at all times. That was me.”

Regarding his nomination of Pence for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Kellogg wrote, “It was my hope to bring both sides back together,” adding that Short “didn’t even try, and failed your principal.”