Fired! Trump’s shameful weapon

US President Donald Trump

Former US President Donald Trump.

Photo credit: Mandel Ngan | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Fired by tweet is now a thing because of Mr Trump.
  • Mr Trump, a man who relishes publicly humiliating others, has a legion of admirers.

Some people believe in the afterlife, but others don’t. For many people, life on earth is Hobbesian – nasty, brutish and short. I can see why these calamity-ridden souls would pine for a heaven bustling with angels and virgins. It’s an irresistible seduction of thought. You are besotted by that which eases your anguish on this planet.

A terrible boss is one of those demons that can haunt you to the edge of suicide. One such tormentor who makes his staff wish for a quick journey to meet their maker is outgoing US President Donald Trump. His choice weapon of the chop is none other than Twitter, the ready machete for any sadistic employer looking to guillotine a subordinate.

Fired by tweet is now a thing because of Mr Trump. I don’t know how many bosses – I use the word advisedly – have fired their staff by tweet. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more than a few. Mr Trump, a man who relishes publicly humiliating others, has a legion of admirers. It’s inconceivable some of his groupies haven’t copied his cruel behaviour.

Methinks the act of tweeting a firing must give Mr Trump a mental ecstasy – the sort of high that’s reserved for the tenderest of our beings. It also reveals a darkness of the soul that’s beyond the pale. I can picture Mr Trump laughing uproariously in a climax of evil pleasure after the chop.

Mr Trump’s most recent victim was Defence Secretary Mark Esper, a sitting duck who wore out his welcome in Mr Trump’s inner orbit for refusing to indulge the dictator’s whims. Mr Esper tried to bend to Mr Trump’s erratic will, often executing bizarre demands without standing up for the proud US military.

Most powerful men

For being a weasel, Mr Esper earned the moniker “Yesper”, a derogatory corruption of his name for a “Yes-man”. Mr Esper was living on borrowed time, but little did he know how nigh the end was until Mr Trump tweeted – without warning – that he had been “terminated”. Just like that – one of the most powerful men on earth was thrown out the door like a stray dog.

Mr Trump is like a father who eats his own children through Twitter. Before Mr “Yesper”, many other brown noses had fallen by Mr Trump’s Twitter sword. Remember former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson who was appointed by Mr Trump secretary of state? People don’t come any more powerful.

Mr Tillerson reportedly called Mr Trump and an “idiot” with a “grade school” understanding of the world. Mr Tillerson denied it, but both he and Mr Trump knew he had said it.

It wasn’t long before the knife was unsheathed. Without ado, Mr Trump tweeted the sacking of Mr Tillerson while he was on a diplomatic mission to Nairobi. How do you spell utter and complete humiliation? It was vintage Trump.

 Former Defence Secretary James Mattis – one of the most decorated American soldiers – resigned before Mr Trump could fire off a tweet. That didn’t prevent Mr Trump from claiming Mr Mattis hadn’t resigned, but that it was Mr Trump who fired him. In effect, Mr Trump claimed this wasn’t “I Quit” but rather, “You are Fired!” Lesser cabinet and senior officials have been ground into Twitter dirt by Mr Trump.

He fired homeland Security Secretary Kirsten Nielsen – who put refugee children in cages along the US-Mexican border – through a tweet for not being cruel enough to poor asylum seekers. Former FBI Director James Comey learnt of his fate when he saw it on TV at an airport.

 It’s most stunning that Mr Trump lathered all these officials in the most generous language when he appointed them. He called Mr Tillerson a “world-class player”.

He serenaded Mr Mattis as “Mad Dog” and the “real deal”. Nevertheless, when the fall came, these officials were worse than the worst vermin and pestilence to Mr Trump.

There’s a paradox here. Who’s to blame? The people who agree to work for Mr Trump – knowing his proclivity for revenge and egotistical self-pity – or Mr Trump himself? I know that I would never – ever – work for such a jerk. But proximity to power – couched as service to God and country – can make honourable people sell their mothers down the river.

Blood spatter

 Twitter gives one a cheap thrill. It’s like the gun that kills without leaving blood spatter. You don’t see the gore of your murderous act. It largely murders the spirit of the target, although it can lead to suicide when bullies body-shame, mock pitilessly, or drive victims to utter despondency. I suspect many of the officials tweeted out of a job by Mr Trump will never fully recover from the shock and torture of it all.

Yet it’s not clear there’s much Twitter can do to unwind, or prevent, the damage. However, we can be moral and exercise our conscience and self-restraint not to injure each other on the medium.

  @makaumutua