Former Trump spokesperson Sarah Matthews has voiced grave concerns about the potential staffing and policy direction of a second Trump administration, drawing from her own experiences within the first term and recent statements made by the former president.
“It’s extremely worrisome because I think competency and experience are going to be out the window,” Matthews remarked in an interview, expressing worry that former President Trump would lean heavily on loyalty rather than expertise if he were to secure a second term. Referencing a Time magazine interview with Trump, Matthews underscored the troubling trend, “In this article, he says that he wants to put loyalists in these positions of power, and a litmus test to secure a job would be that you believe that the 2020 election was stolen from him.”
Matthews, who served as a White House deputy press secretary under Trump, contrasted the likely future environment of the White House with that of Trump’s first term, where despite challenges, there were seasoned public servants like retired Gen. John Kelly and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper. “It’s concerning to think there won’t be people, I believe, of good character staffing him this go-around. You’re not going to have the John Kellys and Mark Espers who would push back on him. Instead, it’s going to be a bunch of ‘yes’ men and women who will do and say what he pleases。”
The prospect of unchecked policies was particularly concerning to Matthews, who suggested that Trump would be less restrained without the prospect of re-election. She pointed to past policies such as family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border, which could re-emerge. “I think, in the last administration, we were able to dissuade him from a lot of bad policies by saying, ‘Oh, well, this could hurt your reelection chances.’ If he is elected president again, that won’t be a concern next time around,” she explained.
Adding to Matthews’s warning, recent reports indicate that conservative organizations in Washington, D.C., like The Heritage Foundation through its “Project 2025,” are already preparing to install staunch conservatives across the federal bureaucracy in support of a hypothetical second Trump term.
In response, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign denounced Matthews’s perspectives, framing her views as antithetical to the will of the American people and supportive of installing “enemies” in the administration.
Matthews’s assertions are corroborated by other ex-aides and officials who have moved away from endorsing Trump’s 2024 bid. In an interview with Fox News earlier this year, former Vice President Mike Pence said: “It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year.” Former Attorney General William Barr and former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly have also declined to endorse Trump’s 2024 bid.
Relevant articles:
– Ex-Trump aide says ‘competency and experience’ would be ‘out the window’ in second term, The Hill, 05/03/2024
– Ex-Aide Raises Red Flag on Donald Trump’s Potential 2024 Staff, Newsweek, 05/01/2024
– Ex-Aide Warns Key Check On Trump Will Be Gone In Second Term, HuffPost, 05/02/2024
– Read the Full Transcripts of Donald Trump’s Interviews With TIME, TIME, 04/30/2024
– Trump Targets Women Who Served in His White House Speaking Out Against Him, Yahoo News Canada, 05/02/2024