McMaster Called Trump A ‘Kindergartner.’ Was Ezra Cohen-Watnick The Source?
Image by Getty
By Ari Feldman November 21, 2017
According to a report in Buzzfeed Monday, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster mocked Donald Trump’s intelligence at a meeting with powerful CEOs. According to five sources, McMaster told a group that included Oracle CEO Safra Catz that Trump is an “idiot,” a “dope” and has the intelligence of a “kindergartner.”
Does this mean that Ezra Cohen-Watnick is back?
Back in March, Cohen-Watnick was revealed as one of the White House staffers who gave information about the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia to Representative Devin Nunes. Nunes then turned around and shared that information with the Trump.
At the time of the leak, Cohen-Watnick was working under McMaster as senior director of intelligence for the National Security Council. McMaster was finally able to fire Cohen-Watnick in August, after General John Kelly purged the White House staff of Steve Bannon — a big supporter of Cohen-Watnick.
And where did Cohen-Watnick go after leaving public service? To the powerful lobbying arm of Oracle.
Coincidence? Only time will tell.
Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
