US State Dept fires Kiron Skinner, who made ‘clash of civilisations’ comment on China, over ‘abusive’ management style
- Senior aide to Mike Pompeo allegedly made homophobic remarks, kicked employees out of their offices and accused people of having affairs
- Several members of her staff had threatened to quit if she was not removed
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Nahal Toosi and Eliana Johnson on politico.com on August 2, 2019.
A senior adviser to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was fired this week over what officials described as her “abusive” management style, including making homophobic remarks and accusing people of having affairs, according to two people.
Kiron Skinner, the director of Policy Planning, was told on Thursday that she was being dismissed, a Trump administration official said.
The official had found herself in the public spotlight earlier this year when she described Washington’s rivalry with Beijing as “a fight with a really different civilisation and a different ideology”.
A senior State Department official confirmed the firing, saying that several members of Skinner’s staff had threatened to quit if she was not removed.
Two other State Department officials said Skinner acted unprofessionally in multiple ways, including yelling in public spaces and using homophobic language. She retaliated against employees by kicking them out of their offices and even alleged that some people were having affairs, the two officials said.