Good grief, they’re surprised.

There is a growing sense of concern inside the White House over the negative reaction to Matthew Whitaker being tapped as acting attorney general after Jeff Sessions’ abrupt firing.

Whitaker, who was Sessions’ chief of staff, has faced criticism since Wednesday afternoon’s announcement for his previous comments on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Several senior officials told CNN they were surprised by the criticism, and believe it could potentially jeopardize Whitaker’s chances of remaining in the post if it continues to dominate headlines.

How can they possibly be surprised??

Just for a start, Whitaker is a complete nobody. To go on, the normal thing would be to make the Deputy AG the acting AG. To continue, we all know about Trump’s suspicions of Rosenstein, and Trump’s determination to kneecap the Mueller investigation if he can, and Trump’s delusion that the Justice Department belongs to him as opposed to the executive branch and the government and the people. Skipping over the normal and obvious person to be acting AG in favor of an unknown chief of staff with a long record of trashing the Mueller investigation…should have been just fine with us? Can they really be that deluded?

It was not widely known among White House staff that he’d commented repeatedly on the special counsel’s investigation in interviews and on television — which is ironic given that this is what drew President Donald Trump to him and raises continued questions over the depth of the administration’s vetting process.

Sooooo…what, they were all on vacation when the appointment was being discussed?

George Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, co-authored a New York Times op-ed published Thursday that called the appointment “unconstitutional.”

The Appointments Clause of the Constitution, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, Conway wrote, “means Mr. Trump’s installation of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general of the United States after forcing the resignation of Jeff Sessions is unconstitutional. It’s illegal. And it means that anything Mr. Whitaker does, or tries to do, in that position is invalid.”

Whitaker’s standing ultimately depends on the President. But continued negative coverage will get Trump’s attention.

There it is again, that “it’s illegal/Trump can do it” split.