You're hired! Former 'Apprentice' contestant and Trump cheerleader lands Republican Party convention job as press deputy
- The Republican Party has hired Erin Elmore, a brunette stunner from Season 3 of 'The Apprentice,' as a convention deputy press secretary
- Elmore has long been a pro-Trump cheerleader on television
- Told DailyMail.com in April that she never heard the billionaire disparage women or minorities or 'non-Americans' and was 'a total professional'
- Six-week gig has already begun in Cleveland where she is Deputy Press Secretary for Caucuses, a key position for the nomination process
- Elmore defended Trump last month after he questioned the impartiality of a Hispanic federal judge, pointing to 'layers of bias' in the case
- She says 'Teflon Don' can survive any controversy: 'Nothing matters'
A former 'Apprentice' contestant and long-time Donald Trump cheerleader has landed a plum job with the Republican Party as a deputy press secretary for next month's GOP national convention.
Erin Elmore, a Season 3 contestant on Donald Trump's long-running reality TV program, has become a fixture on CNN, HLN, the Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network, assuming the role of pro-Trump foil against Democratic strategists.
The brunette stunner is a Philadelphia lawyer and former reporter with the NBC affiliate in Jacksonville, Florida. She has also hawked purses and wallets on QVC, putting her in front of millions more on a regular basis.
'Erin has been extremely supportive and we are pleased to continue working with her on this exciting next chapter,' Trump press secretary Hope Hicks told DailyMail.com on Thursday.
Elmore was among a group of former 'Apprentice' stars who stood up to support Trump in April after a trio of their African-American former colleagues held a press conference to bash him.
VOICE OF THE GOP: Erin Elmore (shown at Philadelphia Style's 2014 Holiday Issue Celebration) is a former contestant on 'The Apprentice' and the Republican Party's new deputy press secretary for caucuses at next month's national convention in Cleveland
YOU'RE HIRED: Elmore appeared during season 3 of Donald Trump's hit reality TV show and his campaign calls her 'extremely supportive' of the presumptive presidential nominee
NOT SILENT: Elmore has become a fixture on television defending the real estate billionaire against complaints that he's a racist, sexist bully
Trump was an even-handed and race-blind businessman, she told DailyMail.com at the time.
'While on the show, I had a great deal of interaction with Mr. Trump,' Elmore said then.
'Not once did I hear him say a disparaging remark about women, minorities, or non-Americans. He treated everyone with dignity and respect and was a total professional.'
'Subsequent to my time on the show, Mr. Trump wrote me letters of recommendation and did everything in his power to help me advance my career,' she added.
Elmore broke the news with Philadelphia magazine in her home town, saying she has imagined Trump running for the White House – and winning – for years.
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'He said he had no idea he was gonna do this, but he's done interviews over the years where he's alluded to the fact that it was a job he could do,' she recalled.
ESQUIRE: Elmore is a Villanova-educated lawyer
'He had aspirations. And he beat off some serious people for this job. He beat out a Bush. Two members of that family had been in the White House. He made a huge impact. He's made history.'
She emphasized the diversity of Trump's stable of 'surrogates' – people who defend him on television and radio – citing women and African-Americans among them.
And that, Elmore said, demonstrates that a racism and sexism narrative being pushed by Democrats and organized protest groups doesn't ring true.
'A lot of these people doing things at his rallies turned out to be Bernie [Sanders] folks,' she insisted.
The Republican National Convention's Caucus Operations Division is in charge of coordinating all 56 delegations and the thousands of individual delegates and alternates.
Elmore's role could become a springboard to a White House posting, a possibility of which she's all too aware.
'It's the opportunity of a lifetime,' she beamed. 'People would kill for this job.'
MARCHING TO OHIO: Trump, shown Wednesday at a rally in Atlanta, will cement his Republican nomination next month at the Cleveland conclave
SEASON THREE: Erin Elmore (front row center, in orange), appeared on 'The Apprentice' in 2005
WHERE THE DEBATING BEGAN: Trump made his biggest early splash in the Republican primary race in Cleveland at the Quicken Loans Arena, which hosted the initial debate on August 6, 2015
Elmore has been on CNN twice in the past month defending Trump, making waves after the billionaire candidate declared that a Hispanic federal judge had an 'inherent conflict' of interest in hearing a lawsuit filed against him because of his ethnicity.
'NOTHING MATTERS': Elmore told CNN last month that 'Teflon Don' can withstand any controversy without losing the support of his devoted followers
She pointed to three 'layers of bias' in the case on June 2, telling anchor Don Lemon that Judge Gonzalo Curiel 'was appointed by Barack Obama, a Democrat.'
And then there was the thorny issue of 'perhaps his heritage and his views,' she said, lining up behind Trump in the face of a firestorm of criticism.
'I think Donald Trump has the approach, "I'd rather be feared than loved",' she said, describing the take-no-prisoners approach that has won him converts in middle America but condemnation on the coasts.
'I think a little bit of fear isn't going to hurt anyone at all,' she added.
A week earlier, she told CNN's audience that 'nothing Donald Trump does, or anything around him, causes any sort of change' in the support of his fans.
'I've always called him "the Teflon Don" and that's absolutely true. No matter what he says or what he does, his voters are still coming out. ... Nothing really matters.'
Elmore's posting in Cleveland is a six-week gig that required her to leave her husband and their three-year-old son at home in Philadelphia while she prepares for the convention in Cleveland.
Quicken Loans Arena – 'The Q,' as Clevelanders call it – will host the four-day event where Trump's GOP nomination will become official.
TRUMP-BACKER: The former 'Apprentice' contestant has been a reliable defender of the Republicans' presmptive presidential nominee
THE Q: Cleveland's pro basketball arena will become Republican Party central after Thursday night's NBA Finals game between the Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors
The Q was also home to the first Republican primary debate last August, which launched Trump as a political television mainstay and expanding his personal brand.
Not everything about Elmore's new job is pen-and-pad messaging work: The Philadelphia Daily News reported Wednesday that as she toured the arena to absorb the facility's layout, she got to see the Cleveland Cavaliers practice.
The Cavs play their final home game of the NBC Finals on Thursday night, facing elimination at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.
As soon as the basketball fans leave, the RNC takes over the building until the last week of July.
Spokespersons for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and the Republican National Committee did not respond to requests for comment.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3645597/You-hired-Former-Apprentice-contestant-Trump-cheerleader-lands-Republican-Party-convention-job-press-deputy.html#ixzz513tUpmD3
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