FLASH
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American media has reported that a $220 million advertising campaign and her failure to respond to rumors of a secret relationship with her subordinate, Corey Lewandowski, were the two determining factors that led Donald Trump to fire Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Noem, who is the first secretary to be fired during Trump's second term, was asked about both issues in testimony before Senate committees on Tuesday and Wednesday.
As reported by American media, the answers she gave angered the American president, who in an interview with NBC News specifically referred to Noem's advertising campaign, saying: "I was surprised. I spent less money to become president of the United States. I didn't know that."
"How do you justify spending $220 million on television ads that feature you prominently?" Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy asked Tuesday.
"Sir, the president has tasked me with conveying the message domestically and in other countries by publishing advertisements that if they are in the country illegally, they should leave," Noem responded.
"I'm not saying you're not telling the truth. I just find it hard to believe," Kennedy insisted, suggesting that the secretary had used the campaign, which she insisted was effective, to raise her own profile.
Things got even worse for Noem when a day later, on Wednesday, a U.S. House of Representatives committee asked her if she had ever slept with Corey Lewandowski, who works as a special government employee.
"Did you have sex with Corey Lewandowski?" a California congressman asked, with Noem fuming and referring to "tabloid trash."
"I'm shocked that today in this committee we're addressing tabloid scum. I'll tell you, he's a special government employee who works for the White House. There are thousands of them in the federal government," Noem said. "You have to be able to answer if someone asks you if you or a federal official is sleeping with your subordinate. It's the easiest thing. You have to be willing to answer that question," the congresswoman insisted.
“That’s nonsense,” Noem replied again. Then a second congresswoman insisted, asking Noem to openly deny the relationship, but she didn’t.
“I think the tabloid nonsense you’re quoting is crazy. This is something I’ve been denying for years,” the former cabinet minister said. “Does that mean no?” the congresswoman asked again.
"You're saying conservative women are stupid or sluts. I'm neither," Noem replied.
According to White House sources cited by the New York Post, Donald Trump already knew about Noemi's relationship with Lewandowski, who was his first campaign manager in 2016, and had joked about it for years, but he considered the former secretary's handling of the matter a disaster for her already shaken credibility.
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