VIDEO: Stephen Miller torches media with 'civics lesson' at White House press conference

Stephen Miller upbraided members of the media at Thursday's White House press conference about the structure of the government and the presidency.

The deputy White House chief of staff for policy explained in his brief "civics lesson" that all of Trump's actions are the expression of the "whole American people" and that bureaucrats who refuse to follow his will are acting against democracy.

'He is removing federal bureaucrats who are defying democracy by failing to implement his lawful orders, which are the will of the whole American people.'

Miller was addressing a criticism often tossed at Elon Musk: that he is unelected and should not have as much power as he has as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency.

"It is true that many people in this room for four years failed to cover the fact that [former President] Joe Biden was mentally incompetent and was not running the country. It is also true that many people in this room who have used this talking point, that Elon is not elected, fail to understand how government works," said Miller.

"So I'm glad for the opportunity for a brief civics lesson. A president is elected by the whole American people. He is the only official in the entire government that is elected by the entire nation, right?" he added.

"Judges are appointed; members of Congress are elected at the district or state level. Just one man, and the Constitution, Article II, has a clause known as the Vesting Clause, and it says the executive power shall be vested in a president. Singular," Miller stressed.

"The whole will of democracy is imbued into the elected president," he continued. "That president then appoints staff to then impose that democratic will onto the government. The threat to democracy, indeed the existential threat to democracy is the unelected bureaucracy of lifetime tenured civil servants who believe they answer to no one, who believe they can do whatever they want without consequence, who believe they can set their own agenda, no matter what Americans vote for."

He then cited some examples of bureaucrats denying executive orders, including radical reform at the FBI, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the cessation of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

"What President Trump is doing is he is removing federal bureaucrats who are defying democracy by failing to implement his lawful orders, which are the will of the whole American people," Miller concluded.

Video of Miller's comments was circulated widely on social media:

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