Donald Trump’s White House is already promoting Hope Hicks’ replacement

| 1:31 pm EST February 20, 2018
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For the past few weeks, two parallel storylines have been developing surrounding White House Communications Director Hope Hicks. She was in the middle of the Rob Porter domestic violence scandal and coverup, and Donald Trump reportedly ended up inappropriately blaming her for the whole thing. She’s also been sold out to Robert Mueller by a former Trump legal spokesman, meaning she’ll probably end up cutting a plea deal. Is she on the way out? Well, the White House is making a point of promoting the staffer who would be her replacement.

There’s an article on CNN whose sole purpose is to raise the profile of Hope Hicks’ understudy, Mercedes Schlapp. To give you an idea of how much of a puff piece this is about Schlapp, it starts off like this: “When Hope Hicks is entrenched in the Oval Office battling the communications crisis of the day, Mercedes Schlapp steps up to the plate. And she’s been stepping up a lot, lately.” (link). You get the idea. I’ll give you a hint about how these things work. Articles like this only happen when the White House decides it wants them to happen.

The reporters at CNN didn’t wake up one day and say “Let’s randomly write a pointless puff piece about a no-name White House understudy when there isn’t even a story to even tell about her.” Trump’s White House had to have made a point of calling up the reporters and pitching them hard on the Schlapp story. The question is why they would do this. The answer seems pretty straightforward.

Donald Trump and his White House are already making a point of promoting the woman who would be Hope Hicks’ replacement. It’s their way of elevating Schlapp’s profile, because they expect her to take over the job before much longer, once Hicks cuts a plea deal, or once Trump just gets tired of her. Either way, while there’s nothing worth reading in that CNN article, its mere existence means that something major is afoot – and that Hicks has one foot out the door.