It’s official: Hope Hicks, the interim White House communications director following the ouster of Anthony Scaramucci, aka Scaramucci Mane, has officially been given the position, and I think she might be in it for the long haul.
According to Politico, Hicks, 28, was initially hesitant to take the position permanently and demanded that “interim” be put into her job title. Hicks had no political experience before joining the Trump team, which actually serves her better, since the man she’s working for has no fucking clue what he’s doing in office. Therefore, don’t expect Hicks to make any waves. She will be exactly what Donald Trump looks for in staff members: soldiers who follow orders.
Here’s how Vogue notes that Hicks “joined” the campaign:
After working for Ivanka and on various Trump Organization real-estate projects, “Mr. Trump sat her down and said, ‘This is your new job,’” Hicks’s mother said in a June 2016 New York Times profile of her daughter. “It was a shocker.” Hicks was later given a choice by then–campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, according to GQ: remain on the campaign or return to the Trump Organization. When she chose the latter, Lewandowski reportedly told Hicks, “You’re fucking dead to me.” (The two also reportedly had a screaming match on the street on New York’s Upper East Side.) Hicks reconsidered when Trump personally asked her to stay, and, per the Times, Hicks soon “found herself a near-constant presence by Mr. Trump’s side, flying in his jet, living rent-free in a Trump-owned apartment, and attending to his mercurial moods.” (Sounds like every woman’s dream job.)
Trump also reportedly treats the former model like a daughter, which felt really creepy to type. According to Vogue (I’m seriously going to vomit all over my computer), Trump has “cutesy” nicknames for Hicks, including “Hopester” and “Hopie.” I don’t know how Ivanka feels about this, but “Hopie” is also considered to be a Trump whisperer who “knows not to disturb him when he’s watching golf,” and a right-hand woman who “totally understands” him, Vogue notes.
This relationship sounds completely creepy, and as such, I don’t think she’ll be losing this job anytime soon. She is now considered around the White House to be one of “the untouchables,” Vogue notes, a group that also includes Trump daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner. Hicks has also been earning the maximum salary since she came on board. That’s right—Hopie was hired at some $179,700, the same salary as then-chief strategist Steve Bannon.