Trump’s cruel attack on Kayleigh McEnany is the final straw in his false loyalty schtick
One of the great secrets of successful institutions is that people are loyal to institutions that are loyal to them.
If that pact gets broken at one end then it gets broken at both. After all, why give loyalty to something that isn’t loyal to you?
It´s the same with people. People gain loyalty from people who they have been loyal to in turn.
Which brings me to Donald J Trump.
Earlier this week the 45th President sent out one of his trademark insults on his “Truth Social” platform.
The target of his ire was not any Democrat or America-hater.
It was Kayleigh McEnany, his former White House press secretary.
“Kayleigh ‘Milktoast’ McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on FoxNews,” said Trump. “I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious, not 25 up. While 25 is great, it’s not 34,” he went on.
Trump did not bother lingering over the facts. Because that was not his point. His point was to humiliate.
“She [McEnany] knew the number was corrected upwards by the group that did the poll. The RINOS & Globalists can have her. FoxNews should only use REAL Stars!!!”
In fact McEnany was only using a variety of poll numbers to show that Trump was “hugely ahead.” Such detail apparently escaped the former President’s notice.
But here’s what is remarkable about this latest brain-fart from Trump.
McEnany is hugely respected, not least among Trump’s base.
They remember what an outstanding White House press secretary she was.
On the podium, in front of an almost entirely hostile media, she held her own for month after month.
She dealt with the incoming fire and gave back more than enough barrage in return.
She did so with grace and humor as well as coolness under fire. Throughout all this she was outstandingly loyal to Trump.
Afterwards she wasn’t one of those who left his administration and then attacked him.
So why did her former boss have to turn on her like this, to insult her as “Milktoast” (when she is anything but) and as not a “star” (which she most certainly is)?
The answer is – like Aesop’s fable about the scorpion – because that’s what Trump is.
He attacks those who have been loyal to him because it is his nature. He can’t help himself.
He demands 100% loyalty from everyone around him, but is incapable of loyalty in return.
We knew this from the start of his time in office, if we hadn’t seen it before. Almost everybody who ever took heat for Trump has been rewarded with insults and disloyalty.
Jeff Sessions was the first sitting Senator to endorse Trump in 2016. He served as Attorney General for almost two years.
When he didn’t do something Trump wanted Trump immediately tweeted that he wished he’d picked someone else. Nice payback!
Chris Christie endorsed Trump in 2016 and helped him prep for his debate against Biden in 2020.
But soon Trump was calling him “Sloppy Chris Christie” and a “failed former Governor.”
It’s the same with everyone who was ever loyal to him.
Within two years of helping get him to the White House and being acclaimed an electoral and strategic genius, Steve Bannon was also “Sloppy Steve Bannon.”
He was also described by his former boss as having been “dumped.”
After leaving his position as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was described by Trump in a Tweet as “dumb as a rock … I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell.”
John Kelly went from being White House chief of staff to being described by Trump as “not in my inner-circle … totally exhausted by the job, and in the end just slinked away into obscurity.”
John Bolton was recruited by Trump and then denounced as “One of the dumbest people in government that I’ve ever had the ‘pleasure’ to work with.” Also “a real dope.”
And who can forget Trump’s treatment of the man who was more loyal to him than anyone else?
For four years Mike Pence stood by Trump’s side, never put a foot wrong or gave anyone the opportunity to put even an inch of distance between himself and the President.
And then at the end of Trump’s presidency, when Trump had lost an election and Pence wouldn’t agree to do something illegal and unconstitutional Pence was denounced by Trump as a person without “courage.”
Even Trump’s own daughter was attacked by Trump for having allegedly “checked out” towards the end of his time in office.
That’s just for starters. If I was to list all the people Trump has turned on over the years I’d need a larger page and a smaller font. In fact I’d have to fill the paper: from journalists, donors, supporters and members of his team from the very bottom to the very top.
So his treatment of McEnany this week is not a surprise. But it might be a final straw for some Trump die-hards. It comes in the same week that Trump has attacked DeSantis while expressing his new-found love for Governor Cuomo.
Nobody cares if Trump now wants to pose as a practicing Cuomosexual. But there were plenty of people who were deeply loyal to Trump and put up with a lot from him. Only to get no loyalty in return. It’s one way for someone who was once the most powerful man in the world to run out of friends.
Pride before the fall
It is “Pride Month.” So, in honor of this ancient religious festival, buildings across town are flying the latest migraine-inducing “Pride flag.” Corporations and others who were nowhere to be seen when civil rights were being fought for will now spend a month covering themselves in rainbow camouflage.
It’s almost as though there is a new religion in town. Personally I preferred the old one. Not least because the rules didn´t change every year.
