Hope Hicks has one foot out the door
Donald Trump can no longer even seem to figure out what side he’s on when it comes to former White House aide Rob Porter vs the ex-wives who have accused him of domestic abuse. He’s repeatedly defended Porter in public, while insisting that the public should believe men like Porter who proclaim their own innocence. Yet Trump is also reportedly livid at Porter’s current girlfriend Hope Hicks, because she also publicly defended Porter. It all sounds like Hicks has one foot out the door of Trump’s White House.
As best we can piece together the timeline of what happened, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly knew about Porter’s history, yet kept him on the job anyway. When Kelly learned that the media was about to expose the whole thing, he made up a phony story about the entire thing having supposedly been made up by Hicks’ ex-boyfriend Corey Lewandowski. This appears to have prompted Hicks to release an overzealous statement defending Porter. So one would think that Trump would place all the blame on Kelly, right?
Not exactly. Trump has created “turmoil inside the West Wing” by not only lashing out at John Kelly, but also at Hope Hicks, according to the Wall Street Journal (link). How did any of this end up being her fault? No one seems to know: “Mr. Trump’s scrutiny of Ms. Hicks surprised people inside the White House because he has rarely questioned his longtime aide.”
Donald Trump’s thought process is so demented, it’s difficult to figure out what’s even going on here. Is he jealous that Hope Hicks is dating Porter? Is he angry that Hicks dared to release her own statement, when he only sees her as eye candy? Eh, who cares. The bottom line is this: it’s pretty clear that Hicks has one foot out the door. This comes even as she has to decide whether to cut a plea deal against Trump with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
