Glass Cliff Phenomenon

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is the latest casualty of the Trump administration - which, of late, have all been women. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons) Following days of speculation, it’s official: Pam Bondi is out. The now-former U.S. Attorney General was removed from her post this week. And though President Donald Trump referred to Bondi as "a loyal friend who faithfully served" amid news of her departure, sources close to the Trump administration told NBC News that he’d grown “more and more frustrated” with her job performance. Her handling of deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s case – and the files from the investigation into him, which cite Trump thousands of times – is said to be central to the decision to let Bondi go. Sources add that Trump had also grown angry with her failure to convert probes of his political enemies – such as former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James – into convictions. This, despite years of fealty from Bondi. She first entered Trump’s orbit as a lawyer who represented him in his 2021 impeachment proceedings for inciting a failed coup. This year, she’d utilized her elevated platform to, among other things, publicly share the names and photos of anti-Trump protesters on social media. She’s the second official to be given the boot by Trump in recent history. Less than one month ago, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was fired from her role, following her much-maligned handling of two killings of civilians by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. This, despite her towing the Trump line that victims Renee Good and Alex Pretti posed threats to U.S. safety even as video evidence circulated to the contrary – and despite her overall dogged implementation of Trump’s aggressively anti-immigrant agenda. Trump is additionally said to be weighing the prospect of firing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, whom he has more publicly critiqued. During a recent briefing in the Oval Office, he laid blame for his administration’s negative perception at her feet – telling her to her face, and in front of the press: “You’re doing a terrible job.” This, despite her repeated willingness to greet questions from journalists with blatant, unprofessional disrespect in service of defending Trump. Incompetence and impropriety are hardly unfamiliar traits among people serving Trump – or Trump himself. Yet when it becomes politically advantageous to put forth a sacrificial firing, it’s increasingly been women on the chopping block. This phenomenon isn’t unique to the Trump administration. In fact, it’s so common to put women (and other marginalized individuals) in high-profile positions and situations during times of crisis – with an understood presumption of blamable failure – that it has its own name: The “glass cliff.” Studies have also shown that women are generally more likely to be fired for fumbles and failures that men tend to be forgiven for. Women like Bondi, and Noem, and Leavitt made themselves into agents of a provably anti-woman state. If they weren’t outright defending Team Trump’s questionable moves or blatant wrongdoings, they were obfuscating about them. They were often misleading and disrespectful when confronted by journalists. Worst of all, they harmed others – immigrants, members of the LGBTQ community and victims of sexual abuse have suffered as a result of their words and actions. All in service of insulating Trump and furthering his agenda. Two of them have now been fired, and the third has been publicly humiliated. As it turns out, ingratiating oneself into a group that dismisses, disrespects and erases women will do nothing to prevent women from being embarrassed at best, and abandoned at worst, if deemed necessary. Women who worm their way into such boys’ clubs may think, on some level, that they are securing their place on the lifeboats with their actions – not realizing that they are, instead, more likely to be the first ones tossed overboard to preserve the men’s safety and access to seats. Chum in the water, to keep the metaphorical sharks at bay. Other women – ones who might find themselves tempted to prioritize self-preservation above sisterhood – should take note of what these men do, and who they’re loyal to, when the chips are down. ◼️

Glass Cliff Phenomenon

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