As President-elect Donald Trump staffs his new administration with a motley crew of MAGA loyalists, some hangers-on have apparently gotten the impression that anyone can serve in the White House now. And it’s not entirely clear if they’re mistaken.
On Wednesday, Politico reported that a series of MAGA influencers and other sycophants have begun publicly lobbying for long-shot jobs in the Trump administration. They include Melissa Rein Lively, a publicist and Instagram influencer best known for a 2020 video in which she tore down a display of Covid-19 masks at an Arizona Target, and Breanna Morello, an X personality who hosts a right-wing politics podcast. “President Trump is flanked by a team of competent advisers who will cut through this gaggle of Gucci-clad grifters like a knife through butter,” one Republican strategist told Politico. “Every administration is beset by up-jumped wannabe advisers…This iteration’s only distinguishing factor is the sheer amount of botched Botox on display.”
Of course, one can’t fault Lively et al. for trying. Trump has already made a number of unconventional staff selections, eschewing traditional qualifiers like experience or expertise in favor of unswerving loyalty to the MAGA movement. Just this week, he announced plans to nominate Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, despite Hegseth’s lack of relevant policy acumen. Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, also earned Trump’s nod for homeland security secretary, though she has limited homeland security experience. Furthermore, Trump is expected to award a health policy role to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the conspiracy theorist and anti-vaxxer who last week launched a website to crowdsource candidates for open jobs in the new administration. “President Trump has asked Bobby to help ‘drain the swamp,’” an announcement on the site said.
All in all, the MAGA faithful have responded from well outside “the swamp”—but perhaps too far outside. Lively, in particular, is waging a vocal, relentless campaign in her bid for White House press secretary. The publicist and influencer reportedly moved from Scottsdale, Arizona, to Palm Beach, Florida, the better to schmooze with Trump’s inner circle. On Instagram, she’s posted numerous photos of herself posing with the likes of RFK, Roger Stone, Vivek Ramaswamy and Tulsi Gabbard, as well as several notes and videos that tout her PR experience.
Prior to this week, however, Lively was known less for her career “advancing the conservative movement”—as her cover letter for the gig puts it—and more for a very public meltdown she experienced at the height of the pandemic. The videos she live-streamed of herself tearing down a mask display and ranting about QAnon were viewed more than 100 million times, according to The Washington Post. Lively was involuntarily hospitalized for a week after the incident, and later enrolled in an eight-week program to address her mental health struggles. At the time, Lively disavowed the incident, calling it a “breakdown episode.” Now, she told Politico, the whole thing was a “PR stunt.” Time will tell if it actually works.
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