There was a point early on in Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ first days, where I thought I should feel sorry for her. I really thought she was being forced to peddle the party line. I mean, despite my distaste for her and her family’s politics, I would have hoped that she was at least honest. Or honest as far as she was able. I would have thought the sort of blatant lack of honesty would eventually rub her the wrong way, which might account for her more and more aggressive posturing. But I quickly realized that I was projecting far more decency on her than she deserved. She really is just generally dishonest and weirdly aggressive when she’s called on it. It’s been especially obvious in the last several days, where she has been defending the revocation of Jim Acosta’s Press Credentials. Beyond towing her boss’s line, she’s actively helping in expanding on the deception by using doctored footage from InfoWars (of all places) to try and further tarnish Acosta’s reputation. It’s despicable, and yet remarkably consistent with what we might expect.
Omarosa’s departure from the West Wing may have caused a bit of a diversity problem at the White House. Talking about Omarosa’s book on ABC, when asked by Jonathan Carl who the most prominent black staff member in the West Wing is, Kellyanne Conway struggled to come up with an answer. When she did answer, it was with Ben Carson, a person who by all measures is not a West Wing staffer, and Ja’Ron, an employee of Melania. Now, I’m not sure if she just happens to be uninformed of the general staff of the West Wing or if this is an indication of the lack of diversity floating around the White House, but it’s not a good look for the White House for anyone who isn’t part of the Trump base.
So the official White House transcript and video of the press conference in Helsinki has been doctored to remove a part of a question, asking whether Putin wanted Trump to win the election and directed his officials to help him do that. The edit of the material makes it seem like the first part of the question wasn’t asked, which changes the entire implication of the question. Now, one could argue that in the transcript, this omission could be the result of trying to catch several people talking at once, but the fact that the White House edited it out of the official video as presented by the White House, and even placed on YouTube, is…well it’s disturbing. To consciously edit out that portion shows intent to omit a telling admission from Putin and his government, especially in light of Trump’s recent, very public claim, that Russia did not want Trump in office. Beyond the possible legal implications (I mean, it’s an official government release, and there are specific laws not only regarding the handling of government documentation, but White House and presidential documentation specifically), it shows an alarming willingness to attempt to establish history as something other than what actually happened, and that should alarm EVERYONE. Trump lying is one thing. Trump giving the order for the official record in every capacity be altered to fit those lies is Orwellian in it’s scope.
Donald Trump is so dedicated to exposing the media as shifty liars, that he’s started attacking his own sources to discredit them. When the White House released information from an anonymous source regarding the now cancelled summit with Kim Jon Un in Singapore, the New York Time reported it. Donald Trump then decided to call out the New York Times for using a fake source…even though it was provided by his people OFFICIALLY. It’s bizarre, and goes to show that Trump isn’t even bothering to understand the context of the words he’s saying before he evens says them. He’s just lying to lie.
So a sinkhole opened up on the White House lawn. I originally didn’t even read the first article I saw about it, because I thought it was a satire article. Like, it’s such a symbolic thing to happen, and I just assumed it couldn’t be real. Then ABC and NBC and literally every news outlet reported on it and I realized that life has just taken to delivering real life punchlines now. Worse than that, it’s been said that the sinkhole was caused by “Swampy conditions.” SERIOUSLY!? I didn’t even have to write that! It was just there! The person who said truth is stranger than fiction couldn’t even fathom this level of irony and inherent comedic value. The only thing missing from the story was people reporting seeing lava or demons in the sinkhole.
So some news outlets are reporting that Ex-White House staffers are having trouble getting work. Now, some claims I can see being an issue. Trump’s unpopularity is not something that looks good on a resume, and associating that reputation with a new workplace is apparently deterring some potential employers. Some of it I find rather unfortunate. Apparently some employers question the judgment of a person who was willing to work under someone like Trump, which might be a bit unfair.
So there is now a new tell-all book from inside the White House coming out by a guy named Ronald Kessler. Among his explosive allegations, he’s claiming that Kellyanne Conway was responsible for a fair share of the devastating leaks that have come from the White House, whether intentional or seemingly through incompetence, she seemed to be the person Trump’s team has long sought for releasing sordid details from inside the West Wing. I have to wonder if this will affect Kellyanne’s future with the Trump Team…
So, some news outlets are reporting some discord between the State Department and the White House after the unceremonious firing of Rex Tillerson. And by “some discord”, they seem to mean “open revolt”. Loyalty has something to do with it I’m sure, but also the fact that the official narrative seems to clash with the “unofficial” (but mostly believed) narrative. Officially, Rex was ousted on Friday, and asked to wait until the beginning of the new week to announce it. Unofficially, Rex found out from an employee who printed out Trump’s tweet on Tuesday morning. One thing is for sure, as much as Sarah Huckabee Sanders is going to be working overtime to assure the public that everything is fine in the White House, more than ever, no one is going to believe heA
White House Economic Advisor Gary Cohn, a man considered to be a “stable presence” in the White House, resigned a mere 2 hours after Donald Trump assured the nation that everyone wanted work for him in the White House. He obviously came out and said this amid rumors and suggestions that his White House was in turmoil. I can see why people might think that, what with scandals arising every other day, and just the boat load of employment turnover which might seem to already undercut Trump’s statement. But Cohn resigning so quickly afterward had to really makes a profound point. I can’t imagine that Trump had a good Tuesday.
Mind the Exit 