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This article is part of a series about Selina Meyer | |
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| Political positions • Electoral history • Family
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| Vice President of the United States Vice presidency Clean Jobs Bill • Get Moving! • Uzbek hostage crisis • 2015 U.S. government shutdown | ||
| President of the United States Presidencies (Timeline) 1st inauguration • 2nd inauguration Joint session address • Medileaks scandal • Families First Bill • 2016 U.S. banking crisis • Death of Hamza Al Bashir • Independence of Tibet | ||
| Presidential campaigns 2008 • 2012 (Primaries) • 2012 VP campaign (Selection, Convention, Election) 2016 (Primaries, Convention, Election, Nevada recount) 2020 (Primaries, Convention, Election, Chinese election interference) | ||
| Some New Beginnings • A Woman First Trips taken • Residences • Controversies • Meyer Fund • Selina Meyer Presidential Library • Death and state funeral | ||
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During her career, there were many controversies involving Selina Meyer, the 45th and 47th president of the United States.
During vice presidency[]
"Retard" comment[]
During a fundraiser in 2013, Meyer spoke regarding a tweet made by a staffer earlier that day, claiming that he was "hoisted by his own retard". The joke was inspired by a comment Nevada Senator Barbara Hallowes made to Meyer hours prior. After the comment was made, Hallowes' Chief of Staff Dan Egan leaked that Hallowes was responsible for the joke and then joined the office of the vice president.
Danny Chung comments[]
In October 2013, en route to an interview with Sam Finnegan on Meet the Press, Meyer was given faulty research from a member of her staff that erroneously claimed that Minnesota Governor Danny Chung had been born in China before his father received his U.S. citizenship. Immediately following the interview, unaware that the mics were still recording, Meyer claimed that Chung wasn't an American. Meyer's comments drew controversy, and prompted a response from Chung himself, who claimed that he was born while both parents were fully naturalized citizens. That day, Meyer fired the staffer who presented the research.
Secret Service agent reassignment[]
While Meyer was discussing her nicknames with her staff in October 2013, she noticed that Secret Service Agent Martin Collins chuckled. Collins was subsequently reassigned. Reporter Leon West questioned Meyer's communications director Mike McLintock regarding this and claimed that it made the vice president appear "repugnant". McLintock claimed that Collins was reassigned for being "jocular and overfamiliar".
Collins' reassignment was widely mocked by the press. In November 2013, McLintock met Collins and accidentally referred to him as an "ape". Collins claimed to feel bullied and threatened by McLintock. As of December 2013, Collins was back on Meyer's security detail.
Tear orchestration[]
During a December 2013 interview in Cleveland, Ohio, Meyer cried after having a potential endorsement rejected by gubernatorial candidate Congressman Roger Furlong. Meyer's tears were popular with the public and made her appear more human. Furlong wanted the vice president's support following the interview. Days later, the reporter claimed that Meyer's tears were manufactured by her staff.
"Signals" leak[]
In November 2014, Meyer's "signals"--slight movements used to indicate to a staffer that she wants to exit a particular conversation--were leaked to the press after Meyer staffer Gary Walsh discussed the signals with his girlfriend.
Situation Room photo[]
Following the Uzbek hostage rescue in January 2015, the White House published a photo of the administration in the situation room, which featured Meyer via teleconference on her cell phone, creating the appearance that Meyer wasn't paying attention to the hostage rescue. The image was widely ridiculed and inspired a series of images that showed Meyer on her phone in the midst of historic moments such as the crucifixion and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
European song[]
At the Vic Allen Foundation Dinner held in January 2015, Meyer sang a song titled "50 Ways to Win in Denver", which featured a section that went "Don’t be European, Ian; Say screw France, Lance". Days later, Meyer attended a summit in Helsinki, Finland, where she was confronted about the song. Meyer had Dan Egan, filling in for Mike McLintock as communications director, apologize for the song, and then apologize for the presumption of offense.
Relationship with personal trainer[]
In November 2015, during Meyer's 2016 presidential campaign, campaign manager Dan Egan hired Ray Whelans to serve officially as Meyer's personal trainer. In actuality, he was hired as a "sex slave". While in London in December 2015, George Maddox staffer Jonah Ryan uncovered Whelans' online beliefs, which included a history of insensitive comments regarding the obese. Meyer was asked about this by reporters during a press conference with Deputy PM Peter Mitchell.
In October 2018, Mike McLintock's diary was leaked by Leon West. Among the things revealed in the leak was that Meyer had been engaged in a sexual relationship during the campaign.
GUMMI code[]
On January 23, 2016, Meyer participated in an interview with Quincy Carter, editor of the New Hampshire Globe. After leaving, Meyer and her staffers referred to a code known as GUMMI (Give Us More Money Idiots) when referring to their financial donors. They were horrified to discover that Carter left his phone behind and had been recording their conversation. Their mockery of Meyer's financial donors was published by Carter in an article that day. The article led Meyer to believe that her presidential campaign was over. However, within hours, she would discover that President Stuart Hughes would be resigning and she would become the 45th president of the United States.
During presidencies[]
Firing of Leslie Kerr[]
On her first day as president, Meyer accidentally fired Leslie Kerr, a Hughes appointee who was in a high position in the State Department. The move angered Iran, who liked Kerr.
Native American painting removal[]
The painting Meyer requested be removed from the West Wing.
On February 25, 2016, Meyer demanded that a painting hung up in the Roosevelt Room be removed, calling it hideous. The move was considered a slight against the Native American community as the painting was the only piece in the West Wing by a Native American artist. Press Secretary Mike McLintock claimed that the painting was simply being "cleansed". Within days, Meyer would have Native American officials in the Oval Office, where she showed off a Native American painting known as Massacre.
Medileaks scandal[]
See also: Medileaks scandal
In March 2016, the Meyer administration was involved in the hacking of medical records of a young girl for a speech, and using child mortality data from the same breach for a campaign mailer for Meyer's re-election campaign. The Meyer administration fired several key officials related to the breach, including long-time Meyer aide Dan Egan. In October 2016, it was revealed that some more of Meyer's close allies were involved in the data hack. Bill Ericsson, who had joined the Meyer administration earlier that year, was scapegoated and arrested that November.
Considering the largeness of the scandal and how close to election day the congressional hearings occurred, it's likely that the Medileaks scandal had a large impact on the tied 2016 presidential election.
Lobbying regarding Families First Bill[]
See also: Families First Bill
In October 2016, Meyer's Families First Bill was put to a vote in the House of Representatives. The Meyer team, realizing how toxic the bill is, deliberately tried to botch the vote so they could win the election. Gary Walsh, Meyer's personal aide, hired lobbyists and former Meyer staffers Amy Brookheimer and Dan Egan to convince congresspeople to vote against the bill. Concurrently, White House Chief of Staff Ben Cafferty had been using Jonah Ryan and Richard Splett to lobby congresspeople in favor of the bill, knowing their incompetence will result in a 'no' vote. However, Congressman Moyes discovered that Brookheimer and Egan presented the same data that Ryan and Splett did, believing that Meyer wants her own bill to fail. Meyer brought in Congressman Owen Pierce and offered him an ambassadorship in exchange for him voting no. The bill failed in the house that night.
Moyes requested a series of congressional hearings to investigate the events leading up to the vote. During their testimonies, members of the Meyer staff one-by-one named communications director Bill Ericsson as the one responsible for both the data breach and the use of lobbyists for the Families First Bill. Ericsson was arrested on November 10, 2016 and harbored resentment towards Meyer for throwing him under the bus and not considering a pardon.
Repeal of gay marriage[]
During Meyer's full term in office between 2021 and 2025, Meyer repealed gay marriage, as part of a promise to Nevada Governor Buddy Calhoun that was made during the 2020 National Convention. Meyer's enactment of the ban ruined her personal relationship with her daughter Catherine, who was a lesbian.
Other controversies[]
Firing of Helen Wright[]
In February 2018, Meyer fired her portraitist Helen Wright after discovering she had sex with Andrew Meyer in her Bronx office. Her decision to fire Wright led to a protest at Smith College, which had been considered to host Meyer's presidential library. Smith President Regina Pell told Meyer they couldn't host the library due to the outcry following Wright's firing.
Indifference to female genital mutilation[]
On June 11, 2018, Meyer spoke to the Arab Conference on Human Rights in Qatar. After discovering that the conference was hosted by Sudanese warlord Omar al-Saleh, Meyer was told not to say anything denouncing al-Saleh if she wants credit for freeing Tibet. Meyer then delivered a speech which refused to denounce al-Saleh and expressed indifference to the practice of female genital mutilation--citing the western practice of circumcision on baby boys as a defense.
Journal leak[]
After applying for a job with Leon West in August 2018, Meyer's archivist Mike McLintock accidentally left his diary behind. The diary's extensive details about the Meyer administration inspired West to pen an article exposing many of the illicit acts committed by Meyer and her close aides. The article was published in October 2018 and detailed Meyer's involvement in the Medileaks scandal, the Uzbek hostage crisis, and her 2015 affair with Ray Whelans. Upon McLintock's request, Meyer joked in an interview with the Tonight Show that she didn't "exercise good judgement" sleeping with Whelans.
Hamza Al Bashir drone strike[]
See also: 2016 Hamza Al Bashir airstrike
On April 15, 2020, while seeking asylum in Oslo, Norway, Meyer participated in an interview with Mike McLintock where footage was shown of a drone strike Meyer ordered during her presidency. The strike killed an elephant, as the suspect in question owned a private "zoo". The death of the elephant inspired widespread condemnation from Americans.