Omarosa Effect: White House tries to save face amid diversity issue

Chief of Staff John Kelly met with Black Republicans to discuss job opportunities

Chief of Staff John Kelly met with Black Republicans to discuss job opportunities

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

It looks like White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is trying to inject a little color into the Trump administration now that Omarosa Manigault is out.

On Tuesday, Kelly told reporters that he met with a group of Black Republicans and discussed possible job opportunities at the White House.

“I met with them just for a few minutes and said we are looking for talented young men and women of any age that would be willing to come and serve the country for some period of time,” Kelly said.

However, he insisted that he wanted “good people.” Race, he said, had nothing to do with his hiring decisions.

“I didn’t say African-Americans, I didn’t say Hispanics,” he said.

The shadow of Omarosa

But it’s hard to ignore the fact that Kelly held this meeting right after the highly-publicized and stormy exit of Omarosa Manigault.

Omarosa’s exit befitted the reality television presidency: it was stormy and dramatic and made headlines everywhere.

According to American Urban Radio Network’s White House Correspondent, April Ryan, White House security escorted Omarosa off the property after pitching a fit over her firing.

Ryan said that Kelly was “tired of all the drama” and pushed for her exit.

However, Omarosa wasn’t pleased with the idea of being pushed out of the White House and wanted to know if Trump approved. When Kelly said that he had, she still wanted to talk to Trump.

That’s when she decided to try to go to the residence to see him, according to Ryan. When security stopped her and told Kelly about it, Kelly ordered her escorted from the White House by security.

“It was very ugly,” Ryan said.

For all her eyebrow-raising antics, though, Omarosa was the only Black voice in the room. And that leaves the White House looking very white.

So it’s hard not to see this move from Kelly as anything but an attempt to diversify after her exit, no matter what he says.

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