Delusional Trump Administration Is Threatening to Fire Anyone Looking for a New Job

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.