Trump Fires One of the Few Black Members of His Administration

One of the few Black officials to have been brought on board to join the Trump Administration has been shown the door, literally. Department of Housing and Urban Development aide Shermichael Singleton was walked out of the department's headquarters by security on Wednesday, February 15, after it was discovered that he had sent out a couple of tweets and written an article deemed critical of the President during the Presidential campaign season.

During his short time on the job, Singleton had begun getting acclimated into his role as one of the top aide's to HUD secretary nominee Ben Carson. Despite having been positioned as a senior adviser, the department had yet completed its background check of the 26-year-old conservative, and during an initial vetting had already questioned him about an op-ed he wrote for The Hill in October that revealed he had once taken exception to Trump's tone on the topic of race, citing his use of "a coded message from an era in our history that should stay in the past.”

“My party in particular has allowed itself to be taken over by someone who claims to be a Republican but doesn’t represent any of our values, principles or traditions,” Singleton also wrote at the time. It appears as though a second vetting turned up additional writings the administration deemed indefensible, leading to its decision to part ways with Singleton. He is reported to have been gearing up for a cross-country tour Carson has planned to compliment his confirmation later this month.