Axios: Trump Now Has the Most Ideologically Diverse Cabinet Ever
Fact check : True, at least on paper. And conservatives may not like the implications of it, either. In fact, they may wonder just what Donald Trump plans to disrupt.
To some extent, the decisions on Cabinet appointment reflect the kind of normal quid pro quo of assembling a winning electoral coalition. And to a larger extent, the differences between these picks and the mainstream of Republican thought may either be overstated or old news. But still, as Axios notes , at first blush it looks very, um ... diverse :
Why it matters: Lost in the noise of Trump's most controversial picks is the simple, undebatable fact that this might be the most ideologically diverse cabinet of modern times.
- A pro-abortion-rights Kennedy running HHS (RFK Jr.).
- A pro-union centrist running Labor (U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon).
- A former elected Democrat as director of national intelligence (Tulsi Gabbard).
- A former George Soros adviser , who now promises Trumponomics will turn around the economy, running the Treasury (Scott Bessent).
Of all these, the most concerning is Kennedy at HHS. Clearly, Trump owes Kennedy a significant position for his decision to close down his own presidential bid and endorse Trump. That is how politics is played in any form of democracy, whether parliamentary or federalist. Had Trump put Kennedy at the FDA, where Kennedy's interest seems most focused, the issue would not have been nearly as acute for Trump's pro-life crowd.
As Secretary of HHS, though, Kennedy wields enormous power through enabling statutes that leave massive amounts of regulatory discretion in health care in his hands. Kennedy may take care not to cross up Trump's big pro-life constituencies, but that risk is clearly present. Will we go back to forcing Catholic nuns to pay for birth control? End religious conscience protections and force providers to perform abortions? Those are not academic questions, and those are not the only risks.
All of the above applies to Chavez-DeRemer at Labor, too. This is a payback for Sean O'Brien's support lending Trump real credibility with union workers, arguably one of the key reasons Trump won the election -- even more than RFK's contribution. Thus, labor has to get a seat at the Cabinet table to keep that support locked into place, but ... this is going to create conflict and friction, and not just with traditional conservatives. Chavez-DeRemer will create headaches for small businesses and independent contractors who also voted for Trump, unless Trump keeps her on a tight leash.
But still, these are the wages of Big Tent Politics. We should have expected at least some of these concessions to the newer factions within the GOP coalition, especially if we want that coalition to survive past Trump's term in 2028.
As for the other examples, those seem less of an issue. Gabbard's issue isn't partisan but ideological, for instance. Calling her a Russia asset is an absurdity, but Gabbard embraces a kind of isolationism that has blinded her in the past to the malevolence of Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin, albeit years ago. That kind of blindness at ODNI could be fatal, as in literally fatal for Americans. The question isn't espionage or loyalties, but intellectual flexibility and focus. Bessent is even less of a problem; he's all in now on Trump's economic policies.
The focus on "diversity" is amusing, in the political sense, as Axios offers a subtle dig at Joe Biden and Barack Obama as well as the Left in general with that framing. But that framing misses the real point. This isn't Trump's "Team of Rivals," in the Abraham Lincoln sense. This is Trump's "Team of Outsiders" -- a solid and unified set of disruptors in every area of government. Contrast this with Trump's first term, when he came into Washington DC as a novice and relied on GOP establishment figures to "drain the swamp." Every single figure in this new Cabinet are people with axes to grind against the establishment, the entrenched bureaucracy, the Deep State -- whatever nomenclature you prefer.
This is a Cabinet designed to really drain swamps. Will it succeed? We'll see soon enough, but if it does, don't expect many more salutes to Trump's "diversity" efforts.
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A reality check on the "Project 2025" "Christian Nationalism" panic that is running amok on the left.
you would bounce a reality check
the cabinet picks were more diverse with the child sex trafficker still among the other simmering sex scandals ...
Russ Vought co author of the 2025 project named to head the budget office. I believe that make half a dozen 2025 followers in the administration.
I am not connected to project 2025, DJT. Liar, Liar.
LMAO
It's like a baby's comfort blanket.
A comfort blanket for Trump and the gang.
And Vance wrote the forward.
Yep Trump lies yet again (still).
So, really, they're all DEI appointments.
Which is illegal now, or will be very shortly, lol.
No...really.
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I don't.
The whining has gotten out of hand.
Trump won, leftists
Deal with it
Anyone who thinks Trump is fit to be president of the United States is the one in denial.
Which one of them ran for four more years ?
They both did, until one of them got kicked to the side by his own party after they determined he was all used up and no longer useful.
And yet the narrative of this story is that - in spite of all nominees totally supporting Trump - these people are diverse to an unprecedented degree. You spend four years - and especially the last 4 months or so - ripping on diversity only to pat yourselves on the back for allegedly being diverse now.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzz. Wrong. Biden was not the Democratic nominee. No one voted for him. 76 million people voted for the totally unfit Trump.
Anyone who can’t support our well established electoral process, needs to quit whining and pack their bags. Perhaps England, where one can turn in folks for praying, would be a better fit.
True, the second chosen one Harris, installed not by the electorate but by the liberal elite, was the Democrat “nominee.”
Then the electorate responded and sent that “nominee” packing.
A wonderful display of how well our electoral process still works.
Absolutely wonderful.
Biden did until the Democrats forced him out and anointed the Hyena- who won no votes in any primary for President ever.
Someone who was more unfit than Trump because she lost bigly.
Bzzzzzz. Never said he was the nominee.
Except it's the voters who determine fitness for office. Your opinion, which you have stated many times over, is that Trump is unfit for the office. So what does it say to you that the majority of voters determined that Trump was more fit for office than Harris?
I don't recall Trumps Man Date Elon, being on any ballot either, but he seems to be a co-President, at least that is what he seems to be doing, as he is constantly shadowing the wanna be Dicktater tot on only the first day dude.
Trump won because he is a cult leader.
Trump won because we was a better candidate and more likable than the miserable one the democrats chose.
and because he is a Cult leader
76,838,984 (at last count) is a pretty big cult.
If that is the lie you need to tell yourself to explain why trump won, then there isn’t much hope you guys are going to pick better candidates. Elections good, choosing candidates for the people bad.
It is sympathy for these people that leads to them being called a cult. It relieves them of the responsibility for voting for the most unfit presidential candidate in U.S. history.
It says voters are ignorant ( not to mention racist, homophobic etc. )seems to be the feelings of many on the left as they do their autopsy of the results.
Do you really think they care that some of the sore losers are saying they are part of a cult? Do you even think the majority of them are even aware of it?
And in 4 years the same thing will be said of the Republican candidate. You would think the dems might spend their time looking for a better candidate to run instead of throwing names around. People don't like that and never react good to it.
LOL. It is standards of behavior and personal history that decides fitness for office. World history is full of unfit people who won elections. Trump ran the most buffoonish presidential campaign we have ever seen. It should have alarmed every single American . His Madison Square Garden rally should have alarmed every single American. It was completely disgraceful. But right wing media has successfully shaped how many people think, and now we just have to hope for the best.
Trumps place in history is already set in stone. He will be at the bottom.
I am impressed, predicting how people in the future will rate a president in their past before his second term has even begun.
History will not exonerate Trump on his four indictments, no matter how successfully he stalled the prosecutions. History will not exonerate or accept his attempt to steal the 2020 election, and his dereliction of duty on Jan 6th 2021. Or his attempt to extort the government of Ukraine in 2019. Cult members ignore that stuff, history will not.
What if history is a bunch of cult members>
Nah, not even close to Dr, not a real Dr Jill ….
Trump won because of the Trump triggered herd.
He thanks the herd profusely.
The biggest ever. Bigly!
Only to the triggered herd
You mean the triggered herd cult. They are as much a cult as anything else.
They prostate themselves at the alter of the Hillary. The first chosen one Trump beat like a rented mule.
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What a fascinating new way to consider the term. Imagine if people cared as much about inclusion of diversity of thought as they do about race or gender.
You don't think living life as a certain race or gender can be an influence on thought?
As do all sets of life experiences.
are not created equal
Nor are any hires based solely on DEI.
And who gets to decide that, exactly?
All kinds of diverse views on Project 2025 implementation.
There you go. Perfect.
"Axios: Trump Now Has the Most Ideologically Diverse Cabinet Ever"
Well, that is the last thing "progressives" want to hear.
From Axios, none the less.
Here's a link to the original article: (The seeder needs to add this info.)
Yes, the unbiased liberal press has been trying to shoehorn Trump into the old status quo Republican politics that appealed to Boomers. Everyone ignores that Trump hobnobbed with New York Democrats during his formative years. Donald Trump really did have more in common with George Soros than the Koch brothers during the 20th century.
So those trying to force Donald Trump into the mold of a Gingrich style small government, Norquist pledge, status quo Republican really are asking to be gobsmacked.
Where did RFK Jr. get his medical degree?
CVS, between COVID vaccinations... /s
Trump University and he was a DEI student.
The same place Donna Shalala, Kathleen Sebelius, Norris Cochran, and Xavier Becerra go theirs.
The same place Al Gore got his degree in climate sciences.
Weird, didn't see him mentioned in the article.
An inconvenient comparison?
A spot on comparison, straight out of the ….. lock box
There is something in common among the majority of the Trump nominees - they are election deniers, Stefanik, Hought, Hegseth, Bondi, Miller, even Rubio to some extent.
"Ideologically"
The mind is playing tricks on this old guy
I read "ideologically" but my mind processed it as "idiotic"
My mind might not have been playing tricks on me after all, but rather correcting a word choice mistake
This is Trump's "Team of Outsiders" -- a solid and unified set of disruptors in every area of government. Contrast this with Trump's first term, when he came into Washington DC as a novice and relied on GOP establishment figures to "drain the swamp."
And contrast it with the highly credentialed Biden insider team which failed so miserably on the border, on the economy and in foreign affairs.
The milieu of "trumpism" is completely devoid of standards. Right wing media has taught the conservative masses to accept this as normal. The devoid of standards enables folks to accept people like Pete Hegseth as acceptable nominees. I'm not even talking about the alleged rape. He is an extremist Christian nationalist and our flaccid media is too beaten down to bring it up.
We shouldn't be talking about unproven allegations from long ago.
He is an extremist Christian nationalist
What the hell is that?
Hegseth has written books about his beliefs . In a recent podcast video he talks about creating Christian warriors to remake America.
Trump’s Defense secretary nominee has close ties to …
3 days ago · Pete Hegseth, president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of Defense, has close ties to an Idaho-based Christian nationalist church that aims to turn America into a theocracy. . Hegseth is a member of a Tennessee …
idahocapitalsun.com /2024/11/21/trumps-defense-secretary-nominee-has-close-ties-to-idaho-christian-nationalists/
Trump’s Defense secretary nominee has close ties to Idaho Christian nationalists
Heath Druzin 6-7 minutes 11/21/2024
Pete Hegseth, president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of Defense , has close ties to an Idaho-based Christian nationalist church that aims to turn America into a theocracy.
Hegseth is a member of a Tennessee congregation affiliated with Christ Church, a controversial congregation in Moscow, Idaho, that has become a leader in the movement to get more Christianity in the public sphere.
In an appearance last year on the Christ Church-connected streaming show “Crosspolitic,” Hegseth talked about how building up fundamentalist Christian education systems is important in what he sees as a “spiritual battle” with the secular world. He sees Christian students as foot soldiers in that war and refers to Christian schools as “boot camp.”
“We’re in middle phase one right now, which is effectively a tactical retreat where you regroup, consolidate and reorganize and as you do so, you build your army underground with the opportunity later on of taking offensive operations – and obviously all of this is metaphorical and all that good stuff,” he said on the show.
Hegseth did not immediately respond to requests for an interview.
Hegseth has spoken positively about Christ Church Pastor Doug Wilson’s writings
Christ Church is led by Pastor Doug Wilson, who founded the Calvinist group of churches called the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, or CREC. CREC has congregations in nearly all 50 states and several foreign countries. Hegseth’s church is a member of CREC, and Hegseth has spoken positively of Wilson’s writings.
Wilson and his allies have a rigid patriarchal belief system and don’t believe in the separation of church and state. They support taking away the right to vote from most women, barring non-Christians from holding office and criminalizing the LGBTQ+ community.
Recently, Wilson has increased his influence nationally as he’s built a religious, educational and media empire. His Association of Classical Christian Schools has hundreds of fundamentalist schools around the country, and his publishing outfit Canon Press churns out dozens of titles a year as well as popular streaming shows that highlight unyielding socially conservative ideals.
In the recently released podcast, “Extremely American” (created by this reporter), Wilson says one of his goals is to get like-minded people into positions of influence. In an emailed response for this story, he said he’s closer to that post-election and that he supports Hegseth’s nomination, though he downplayed any influence he has on him.
“I was grateful for Trump’s win, and believe that it is much more likely that Christians with views similar to mine will receive positions in the new administration,” he said.
Hegseth nomination could threaten cohesion, diversity of U.S. military, experts say
That’s what worries Air Force veteran Mikey Weinstein, who is the president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Weinstein says Hegseth, if confirmed as secretary of Defense, would threaten the cohesion of a religiously and racially diverse U.S. military.
“Pete Hegseth is a poster child for literally everything that would be the opposite of what you would want to have for someone who’s controlling the technologically most lethal organization in the history of this country,” he said.
Weinstein sees Hegseth’s nomination as an example of the dangers of Project 2025, a 900-page policy paper written by far-right political activists. It lays out a plan to gut the federal government and install Christian nationalist ideals.
“Christian nationalism is an absolute fatal cancer metastasizing at light speed (for) the national security of this country,” he said. “It is a Christian version of the Taliban.”
Matthew D. Taylor, senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies, said Hegseth is “one of the most extreme far right figures ever nominated to a cabinet post, at least in modern memory.”
Taylor said he’s broadly concerned about Christian nationalists, who tend to take a dim view of democracy, potentially having a lot of sway in this administration.
“I think we should expect a profound degradation of our democratic norms of the rule of law, and I think we are edging closer to a de facto Anglo Protestant establishment, of the kind where Anglo Protestant Christianity as the de facto official religion in the United States,” he said.
Hegseth faces some headwinds in his nomination process due to multiple marital sex scandals and the recent revelation that he paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in exchange for her not speaking about it. He denies he assaulted her but admits he paid her . He’s also gotten criticism for tattoos that are symbols of the Crusades and wrote a book titled “American Crusade,” where he derides Muslims.
Before becoming a TV personality, Hegseth led the conservative veterans group Concerned Veterans for America, which advocated for increased privatization of veterans’ health care.
He has also said that women should not be allowed to serve in combat roles in the military, and has complained about what he terms “woke” policies in the military.
In other words ---