The Body Count -- Mary Elizabeth Taylor

A Reoccurring Feature on Who's Jumping Off Luxury Liner Trump

Mary Elizabeth Taylor, a senior State Department official who has served in the Trump administration since its first day, has resigned over President Trump’s recent handling of racial tensions across the country — saying that the president’s actions “cut sharply against my core values and convictions.”

Taylor, assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, submitted her resignation yesterday. Taylor’s five-paragraph resignation letter, obtained by The Washington Post, serves as an indictment of Trump’s stewardship at a time of national unrest from one of the administration’s highest-ranking African Americans and an aide who was viewed as loyal and effective in serving his presidency.

“Moments of upheaval can change you, shift the trajectory of your life, and mold your character. The President’s comments and actions surrounding racial injustice and Black Americans cut sharply against my core values and convictions,” Taylor wrote in her resignation letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “I must follow the dictates of my conscience and resign as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs.”