DELUSIONAL
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS THREATENING TO FIRE ANYONE LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB
Despite the fact that, come January,
low-to-mid-level staffers will need new jobs for things like food and
rent.
BY BESS LEVIN
NOVEMBER
10, 2020
Historically, when presidential administrations are winding
down, either because they’re a few months from completing a second term or
because they’re not getting one on account of being booted from office by the
American people, low- to mid-level noncareer staffers start looking for new
jobs. Why? If you’re so far removed from understanding the number one reason a
person typically needs employment, here’s a hint: It’s so they can have money.
Like, for food. Also: shelter. And: health insurance. Normal people get this,
and perhaps even happily serve as references. Anyway, you’ve probably guessed
where this is going:
John McEntee was
fired as Trump’s body man in March 2018 over “gambling debts that threatened
his security clearance,” then rehired in February
2020 and tasked with purging supposedly disloyal appointees from the
administration, so this is clearly right in his wheelhouse. According to Axios,
he’s one of the people “egging” Trump on re:
attempting to overturn the election results in numerous states, which stands
little to no chance of success. Of course, no one has ever accused this
administration of being lucid or sane, hence the embarrassing insistence that the
election is “far from over.” And
because they’re also a group of highly vengeful people, in their fight for a
second term that’s quite obviously never gonna happen, they need staffers making $30,000 a
year and possibly living paycheck to paycheck to show the same level of
slobbering loyalty and be shit out of luck come January 20, 2021. (Presumably,
staffers working for the worst federal government in U.S. history aren’t going
to be snapped up within a day of losing their jobs.) As Axios reported Sunday
night:
One
White House official described a scene of chaos and frustration among
staff, particularly younger, lower-level aides anxious about finding new jobs.
“Senior staff can afford to drag it out, but mid to lower…need paychecks and
don’t want to get left behind,” the official said. The challenge, the official
added, is sending out resumes when “we are technically supposed to believe we
can win.”
In a statement, White House Press
Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who has never once told a lie,
claimed to reporter Alayna Treene: “Having spoken with many
younger West Wing staffers, I can tell you that the team fully supports
President Trump and the movement behind him.”
Meanwhile, as 20-somethings are being
threatened to stay the course or be terminated, Trump is publicly firing a cabinet
chief just because he can:
President
Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper via tweet on
Monday, ousting his fourth Pentagon chief and stoking uncertainty as the nation
navigates a chaotic transition marked by an incumbent who is refusing to
concede…. Esper’s firing, expected since at least June but announced suddenly
as Trump continues to contest the election results, plunges the Pentagon into
another period of leadership upheaval as it tries to manage an unusual
transition period fraught with political tensions and potential security risks.
According to the Washington Post, Esper has
been on Trump’s radar for firing since June, when he refused the president’s
demand to dispatch thousands of troops into the streets of Washington during
protests over the killing of George Floyd, saying it would look like martial
law. Esper continued to anger Trump by issuing a ban on the display of the
Confederate battle flag on military bases and taking steps to address racial
and gender discrimination—moves that would presumably only piss off an avowed
misogynist and racist. It’s also uniquely Trumpian to fire the Secretary of
Defense without considering the consequences for American security, though of
course it‘s also possible that Trump does get it but thinks
taking advantage of his last few opportunities to fire someone over Twitter is
more important. Per the Post:
Rep. Adam
Smith (D.-Wash.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee,
called the firing a destabilizing move that will embolden adversaries and puts
the United States at greater risk. “Until President-Elect Biden is sworn into
office next January, it is imperative that the Pentagon remain under stable,
experienced leadership,” Smith said. “It has long been clear that President
Trump cares about loyalty above all else, often at the expense of competence,
and during a period of presidential transition competence in government is of
the utmost importance.”
One
Republican official who works in national security, speaking on the condition
of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, called Trump’s decision
“irresponsible and petty.”
