President Trump, Omarosa, and the Real Meaning Behind “The Best People”

White House Director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison Omarosa Manigault, right, walks past President Donald Trump during a meeting on healthcare in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais).

As far as employment in the Trump White House goes, it’s pretty short-lived.

In the past eighteen months of this administration, we’ve seen numerous firings and resignations. Some have been scandal-free while others were disgraceful exits. That revolving door sure does get a lot of action. Among the formers is Michael Flynn, Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus, Anthony Scaramucci (after 11 days), Steven Bannon, Sebastian Gorka, Tom Price, Omarosa Manigault Newman, Rob Porter, Hope Hicks, and Scott Pruitt. This is not even the entire list.

If you look closer, you have those involved in questionable communications with Russia, the unofficial leader of the alt-right, those who used taxpayer funds for personal use, domestic abusers, and those charged with ethics violations.

Make America great again, or something.

Far too many on the Right are incapable of viewing conservatives or Republicans (not the same thing) with a critical eye. If they’re close to us, they must be the best of the best. “The Left is the side with morality issues!” That’s what they say. Naturally, these protestations would come from those who support President Trump with their eyes closed. He has an (R) next to his name, and that’s all that matters to them. How many times have we heard, “Principles aren’t important as long as you’re winning!” This is the current GOP.

The latest former Trump administration employee to dominate the news is Omarosa Manigault Newman. From the start, I was never impressed with the former reality “star.” She has always come across as self-serving, artificial, and untrustworthy. Recently, she revealed that she tapped Chief of Staff John Kelly while he was firing her. A highly inappropriate and dangerous admission since it occurred in the Situations Room. She has made other allegations in the lead-up to the release of her book entitled “Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House.” It’s difficult to say what is true and what isn’t but generally, it’s safe to say that Omarosa is not a stand-up individual. This is not a stretch.

As my colleague Andrea Ruth noted, President Trump took to Twitter (as he loves to do) to sound off about his former employee. What is most revealing of all is his self-centered approach to staffing. This is also not surprising.

…really bad things. Nasty to people & would constantly miss meetings & work. When Gen. Kelly came on board he told me she was a loser & nothing but problems. I told him to try working it out, if possible, because she only said GREAT things about me – until she got fired!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2018

When his right-hand man, John Kelly, warned him of issues with the reality television veteran, the president simply did not care. Why would he? Omarosa was singing Trump’s praises. And as we’ve seen time and again, worshipful loyalty is what the 45th president values most of all. Principles need not apply. 

Way back in April of 2016, then-candidate Trump assured the American people that he would hire the best people. In the end, the real-estate-magnate-turned-reality-star-turned-politician acted as any politician would. Instead of hiring the best people, he hired the ones who soothed his ego most of all.

As we’ve seen with the Flynns, the Bannons, the Pruitts, and the Porters, loyalty to President Trump is not the same as moral clarity. That is an unfortunate truth of this administration. With Donald J. Trump at the helm, and with little interest in deferring to those who know better (like John Kelly), I don’t see anything changing.

In the drama known as Omarosa v. Trump, I am not rooting for any side. The former is a woman whose snake-like qualities are easily dismissed if she says nice things about her boss. The latter is the boss who looks the other way. Why would I support either?

Unfortunately, this style of governance extends beyond those who walk around the West Wing. President Trump is quick to speak ill of true allies and fondly of enemies, so long as they smile to his face.

Who needs wisdom when you’ve got “the best”?

Kimberly Ross is a senior contributor at RedState and a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

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