Tim Miller (political strategist)

Last updated

Tim Miller
Born
Colorado, U.S.
Education George Washington University (BA)
Occupation(s) Political consultant, writer
Known for Jeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign communications director
Never Trump movement
Political party Republican (before 2020)
Independent (2020–present)
Children1

Tim Miller is an American political consultant and writer. He was a communications director for the Jeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign, and subsequently became an outspoken critic of former U.S. president Donald Trump.

Contents

Campaign roles

A Colorado native, Miller started out in Republican politics as an intern working on the 1998 Colorado gubernatorial election. [1] He later earned a bachelor's degree from the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs. [2]

Miller was an Iowa staffer for John McCain in the 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, and later served as national press secretary for the Jon Huntsman 2012 presidential campaign. [2] In his role with the Huntsman campaign, Miller was credited by Esquire for making its daily email to reporters "surprisingly hip". [3] After the primary, Miller joined the Republican National Committee as its liaison to Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. [4]

In 2015, Miller was hired by former Florida governor Jeb Bush to be a senior adviser to his presidential exploratory committee, Right to Rise political action committee (PAC), and went on to serve as the communications director for Bush's presidential campaign. [2] [5] [6] During the campaign, Miller drew notice as a "vocal critic" of Donald Trump. [7] Following a 2016 South Carolina Republican primary debate, Miller followed Trump around the spin room heckling him until Miller was "hip-checked" by Trump campaign strategist Corey Lewandowski. [8]

Anti-Trump advocacy

Miller joined the Our Principles PAC, an anti-Trump super PAC, following Bush's exit from the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, where he drew notice for lambasting Trump supporters with whom he appeared on-air. [9]

After Trump's election as president, Miller received media attention for announcing he had donated to Doug Jones, the Democratic opponent of Republican nominee and accused sex offender Roy Moore in the 2017 United States Senate special election in Alabama to fill Jeff Sessions' seat. [10] [11]

In 2020, Miller co-founded the advocacy organization Republican Voters Against Trump, which sponsored television and internet advertisements featuring lifelong Republicans explaining their decision to vote for former vice president Joe Biden instead of Trump, and served as its political director. [4] [12]

Miller was included by The Washington Post on a list of Republicans "who hate Donald Trump the most". [13] In November 2020, Miller announced he had left the Republican Party. [14] [15] He donated to a Democratic Party Candidate during the 2020 Alabama Senate race. [16]

Opposition research

In 2013, Miller co-founded America Rising, an opposition research group focused on surfacing negative stories about Democrats, where he served as executive director. [17] It was noted during the 2014 United States elections for deploying "trackers" to follow Democratic elected officials around Capitol Hill. [18]

Following the 2016 United States presidential election, Miller joined Definers Public Affairs, an opposition research-styled consulting firm working for corporate clients. In 2018, they circulated a research document linking anti-Facebook activists with financier George Soros, often the subject of antisemitic conspiracy theories, on behalf of Facebook. [19] As a result of the controversy, Facebook ended its work with Definers. [20]

Media career

Miller has been described by Politico as one of the "most digitally fluent and social-media savvy" Republican operatives. [2] Miller is a contributor to the liberal Crooked Media website and frequently appeared as a representative of The Bulwark on its Pod Save America podcast. [10] [4] [20]

He is a writer for The Bulwark and Rolling Stone . [4] [21] Miller has written in support of Omar Ameen, an Iraqi refugee accused by Trump of being a member of ISIS. [22] A Rolling Stone column by Miller seeking on background comments from reluctant Republican Trump supporters elicited a widely shared quote, "There are two options, you can be on this hell ship, or you can be in the water drowning". [21]

His memoir of working in Republican politics, Why We Did It: A Travelogue From the Republican Road to Hell, was published by Harper in June 2022. [23] The book details Miller's political career, and analyzes the rise of Trump and the motivations of Republican politicians who remained firmly loyal to the MAGA movement. [24] [25] It reached #2 on The New York Times non fiction list in July 2022. [26] The book was positively received for its writing style and analysis of political changes within the post-Trump GOP during the late 2010s and early 2020s. [27] [28] In a review for The New York Times , Jennifer Szalai called the book "darkly funny" and praised Miller's insights into the inner workings of the Republican Party and the Washington D.C. political scene. [29] New York Times columnist David French wrote that it offered "painful" insights into the impact of partisanship and Trumpism on the American conservative Right. [26]

He appears as an anti-Trump pundit on MSNBC. [30] In February 2024, Miller replaced Charlie Sykes as host of The Bulwark Podcast. [31]

Personal life

In 2000 Miller graduated from Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colorado, and in 2004 he graduated from George Washington University with a BA in political science. [32]

Miller is openly gay. He attributes his decision to take the risk of coming out in 2007, while still working on Republican campaigns, in part to the Larry Craig scandal. [4]

In 2023, Miller moved from Oakland, California to New Orleans, Louisiana, with his husband and their child. [19] [22] [33]

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References

  1. ↑ Bleiker, Carla (July 14, 2020). "Republican Anti-Trump campaigner: Trump presidency 'an utter disaster'". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Allen, Mike (February 20, 2015). "Big hire for Jeb: Tim Miller as comms director". Politico. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  3. ↑ Jones, Chris (October 11, 2011). "Huntsman Never Stood a Chance. Now Maybe He Still Does". Esquire. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Daniel, Walters (October 30, 2020). "One of the country's biggest Never Trumpers owes part of his journey to Larry Craig's 'wide stance'". Inlander. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  5. ↑ Sarlin, Benjy (February 20, 2015). "Jeb Bush snags opposition research star Tim Miller for 2016". MSNBC.com. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  6. ↑ Garcia, Michelle (February 22, 2015). "Jeb Bush Picks Opposition Researcher, Gay Republican Tim Miller For Campaign Team". The Advocate. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  7. ↑ Isenstadt, Alex (March 1, 2016). "Anti-Trump super PAC adds top Bush adviser". Politico. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  8. ↑ Coppins, McKay; Gray, Rosie (March 21, 2016). "Trump Campaign Manager Faces New Allegations Of Pushing, Sexually Suggestive Comments". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  9. ↑ Moore, Jack (March 11, 2016). "Shrimpy Trump Supporter Burned by Jeb's Former Spokesperson on Live TV! Sad!". GQ. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  10. 1 2 Broverman, Neal (November 17, 2017). "Gay Former Spokesman for Jeb Bush Endorses Roy Moore Opponent". The Advocate. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  11. ↑ Greenwood, Max (November 21, 2017). "GOP operative: 'I just donated to a Democrat for the first time' in Alabama Senate race". The Hill. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  12. ↑ Karni, Annie (May 28, 2020). "Get Republicans to Vote Against Trump? This Group Will Spend $10 Million to Try". The New York Times. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  13. ↑ Cillizza, Chris; Blake, Aaron (May 7, 2016). "The 10 Republicans who hate Donald Trump the most". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  14. ↑ Hall, Colby (November 23, 2020). "Joe Scarborough: How Can I Return to a Republican Party That Stayed Silent While Trump 'Shredded Constitutional Norms?'". Mediaite. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  15. ↑ Miller, Tim (November 22, 2020). "Goodbye To All That". The Bulwark. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  16. ↑ Greenwood, Max (November 21, 2017). ""GOP operative: 'I just donated to a Democrat for the first time' in Alabama Senate race"". The Hill.
  17. ↑ Haberman, Maggie (March 21, 2013). "RNC, Romney operatives launch firm". Politico. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  18. ↑ O'Keefe, Ed (February 20, 2015). "Team Bush brings oppo guru Tim Miller on board". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  19. 1 2 Nicas, Jack (November 21, 2018). "How Facebook's P.R. Firm Brought Political Trickery to Tech". The New York Times. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  20. 1 2 Isaac, Mike; Nicas, Jack (November 15, 2020). "Facebook Cuts Ties With Washington Firm That Sought to Discredit Social Network's Critics". The New York Times. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  21. 1 2 Glasser, Susan B. (July 16, 2020). "Trump's Losing, So When Are Republican Candidates Going to Abandon Him?". The New Yorker. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  22. 1 2 Riotta, Chris (February 14, 2020). "Meet the California Republican who helped create the Never Trump movement – and is willing to vote for Bernie Sanders" . The Independent. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  23. ↑ Szalai, Jennifer (June 29, 2022). "'Why We Did It' Is a Dark Ride on the 'Republican Road to Hell'". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  24. ↑ Chait, Jonathan (July 7, 2022). "Scenes From the Republican Surrender to Trump". Intelligencer. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell by Tim Miller". www.publishersweekly.com. June 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  26. 1 2 "Tim Miller Asks the Question Every Conservative Must Answer". The Third Rail. July 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  27. ↑ Elliott, Phillip (July 20, 2022). "Welcome to the new era of political memoir". Time. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  28. ↑ WHY WE DID IT | Kirkus Reviews.
  29. ↑ Szalai, Jennifer (June 29, 2022). "'Why We Did It' Is a Dark Ride on the 'Republican Road to Hell'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  30. ↑ "Tim Miller: Republicans 'were saying the right things' after Jan 6, but now defense is 'even worse'". MSNBC.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  31. ↑ Sarah Longwell, Jonathan V. Last (February 5, 2024). "Some news from us: The Bulwark is growing". The Bulwark. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  32. ↑ "Regis Jesuit High alumni page" . Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  33. ↑ "Tim Miller tweet of 26 June 2023 "my new home state"" . Retrieved June 26, 2023.
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