Former President Donald Trump's behavior was no secret when he took office. His attitude toward women and treatment of staff was also well-known. So, as more and more former aides come forward about his volatility they witnessed in the final months of the administration, critics are questioning why they signed up to work with Trump, to begin with.
The conservative National Review posted a piece on former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin asking "what happened" to her, citing her thoughts and opinions that have evolved over the past year.
"The change in tone and emphasis was part of a broader transformation for Farah, now Farah Griffin" the site wrote. "The 33-year-old got her start in right-wing politics at World Net Daily — the blog run by her father, Joseph Farah, that is widely credited with popularizing the Barack Obama birther conspiracy. After her stint at WND, she entered the Republican Party fray as a communications director for the House Freedom Caucus. In 2017, she joined the Trump administration as a press secretary for Mike Pence, later moving to a similar role in the Department of Defense."
Responding to the piece on Twitter, she made it clear that she worked for former Vice President Mike Pence for two years before heading over to the Department of Defense for the rest of the Trump administration. It was only in the final year that she was brought to the West Wing.
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"I originally did it on detail from DOD, intending to return," she explained. "When I got to West Wing I saw chaos. Every time I thought about returning to DOD, I couldn’t bring myself to. I could kick myself the rest of my life over that decision. But I stayed. After Trump lost and began espousing the election lies, I resigned."
"I haven’t stopped using my voice since to condemn his lies and unfitness for office," she continued. "I remain a conservative who believes in limited federal government and a robust national defense."
Many Republicans and former Republican feel like the GOP has abandoned its values, focusing not on smaller government or national defense, but on more intrusive government and refusing to stop right-wing domestic terrorism. While it was more pronounced under Trump, it began long ago with the GOP hitching its wagon to anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ+ activists who coopted the party to suddenly focus not on the economy or national security but restricting personal freedoms.
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Former Pence Homeland Security official Olivia Troye has been one of those who left the White House in 2020 and has continued to advocate against Trump, particularly when it comes to empowering domestic terrorists and militia groups.
"But when you’ve worked in the highest levels of government, you realize the problems that come to the Oval Office, or the office of the Secretary of Defense aren’t always as simple as something you can solve on purely partisan lines," Griffin continued. "Holding a TS/SCI security clearance & receiving briefings fundamentally changed how I see the world & our role in it. I hope I’ve evolved. I hope I do the rest my life. I pride myself first and foremost in being an American. The political labels will always be secondary to me."
