She was never a “Washington” girl.
She didn’t even care for politics. And yet, she was one of the most powerful people in DC.
Hope Hicks, Trump’s communications director, was one of the longest-serving advisers and arguably Trump’s most trusted aide.
She often had the challenging job of talking him down from an angry tweet, redirecting his attention elsewhere. She corralled the press department to get on message, even when they were at odds with each other --- which was all the time.
And many of the staff viewed her as a protector against Trump’s outbursts... like a child shielding her little brother from her father’s wrath.
But yesterday, Hicks appeared to have enough. She told the President that she was resigning.
Her resignation came a day after she testified for eight hours before the House Intelligence Committee. She told the panel that in her job, she had “occasionally” been required to tell “white lies” but had never lied about anything connected to the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Her revelation to the panel is not shocking. And I don’t think it was the impetus for her leaving the White House.
She’s a 29-year-old former model who wanted to work in fashion. I doubt she ever had aspirations of becoming the communications director. By all accounts it sounded like she took the job in stride, but it just didn’t seem like it was her dream to be there.
The limelight and scrutiny of the House Intelligence Committee and her relationship with Rob Porter made public, appears to have pushed her to end something she really never wanted to start.
When she leaves the White House in a couple weeks, she is going to escape relatively unscathed. She did a good job and didn’t stay to see her reputation get dragged through the dirt like so many before her.
Trump has stated that Hicks is very smart many times. I believe he is telling the truth.