President Trump only hired his former campaign press secretary-turned White House communications staffer Hope Hicks because he thought she was attractive, former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman writes in her forthcoming book, “Unhinged.”
“Why was she there at all?” Manigault Newman asks in the book set to be released Tuesday.
“Trump has an affinity for pretty women. He’d rather have a pretty woman with no experience around than a qualified, less-attractive woman.”
[Trump: ‘Wacky Omarosa’ is ‘hated’ in the White House, will never work for me again]
Hicks, who was 26 at the time, left her position working for Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand to join Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. She rarely spoke publicly about the campaign and never gave television interviews about the candidate.
“She was so painfully aware of her inadequacies,” Manigault Newman writes. “She never did on camera. Hope was terrified to give statements or even entertain the idea of it. She lacked confidence because she knew she wasn’t qualified to talk about policy or the political process. She had no insight into or understanding of what was going on and could not speak on behalf of the candidate, or later, the president.”
Hicks “was always Googling terms while we were in meetings, always playing catch-up, always sensitive about what she didn’t know,” the book adds.
The 29-year-old resigned from her role as White House communications director in March to explore other opportunities outside the West Wing. She had been embroiled in scandals toward the end of her tenure, involving abuse allegations against former a White House official, Rob Porter, whom she was said to be dating, as well as her role in helping to craft Trump’s statement about the infamous Trump Tower meeting between key members of the Trump campaign and Russians.
Hicks was recently spotted on Air Force One on the way to a rally in Ohio, prompting speculation that she could rejoin the White House or Trump’s 2020 campaign.
The White House and president have denounced Manigault Newman’s book, referring to her as a “disgruntled” employee.
[Also read: Omarosa speaks highly of Melania Trump in book that disparages the president]
