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Spicer adds, “The Manafort message was clear: Trump will be our nominee and our next president, and anyone who didn’t want to work to that end could spend the next four years in political Siberia. (No Russia pun intended.)”
The final name that needed to be scrubbed from the petition, Spicer writes, was that of Washington, D.C., delegate Robert Sinners. The book describes an alleged deal between Sinners, who Spicer says told the Manafort team “he wanted Donald Trump to support gay rights,” and senior Trump communications advisor Jason Miller.
“Jason assured Sinners that Trump would be the most ‘inclusive’ candidate the Republican Party ever had,” Spicer writes.
“This is your moment, Robert,” Miller told Sinners, according to the book. “You can deliver this.”
Sinners then reportedly signed “a form that officially removed his name from the petition,” and the deal was done.
“Jason told Sinners Donald Trump’s acceptance speech would acknowledge the LGBT[Q] community, which no other Republican acceptance speech had done,” Spicer writes. “And it did.”
The White House and Sinners did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
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During Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in July 2016, he referenced the then-recentmass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which resulted in 49 deaths.
“As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology,” Trump said,according to The Hill,referencing the fact that the shooter, Omar Mateen, had pledged allegiance to ISIS.
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The crowd cheered, and Trump said, “As a Republican, I’m so happy to hear you cheering for what I just said.”
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In October 2017, shortly after that reversal, ACLU legislative director Ian Thompson called Trump’s administration “easily themost anti-LGBT administrationin at least a generation,” The Hill reported at the time. “They are hard at work trying to dismantle and erase every gain LGBT people have made since 2009.”
In his book, Spicer presents his perspective on some of the most controversial moments in the White House and seems to assert his enduring loyalty to Trump.
He also sums up the president’s unique political style: “I don’t think we will ever again see a candidate like Donald Trump,” Spicer writes. “His high-wire act is one that few could ever follow. He is a unicorn, riding a unicorn over a rainbow.”
source: people.com
