Tag: nominee
WATCH: Trump Nominee Says It's 'Very Based' To Think Women Shouldn't Vote

WATCH: Trump Nominee Says It's 'Very Based' To Think Women Shouldn't Vote

On May 29, President Donald Trump “nominated Paul Ingrassia, a former far-right podcast host now serving as the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, to a new important role: head of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent corruption-fighting agency that safeguards federal whistle-blowers and enforces some ethics laws,” as reported by The New York Times.

ALAN JACOBY (HOST): I don't want a woman as a vice president. My wife – I am married to the biggest misogynist this side of the Mississippi, by the way.

My wife literally thinks women should not vote. I tend to agree with her a lot –

PAUL INGRASSIA (GUEST): She’s very based.

JACOBY: Unless of course you’re voting for Donald Trump.

And Nikki Haley, forget about it. Forget Nikki Haley birdbrain, warmonger. It's – There's no way. I'd have to agree with Tucker Carlson. I'd have a hard time if that was the VP choice because she'll be just eyeing for 2028 or whatever the case is if they could somehow take Trump out, and I just I could not, I couldn't see it.

INGRASSIA: She's so terrible. She's so incompetent. I mean, it's amazing that she even had that position as ambassador to the United Nations. I mean, I can't believe this woman made it so far in her professional political career given how dumb she just sounds on the campaign trail. And the fact that she is so, I mean, she's pretty decently financially supported. I mean, you really just question the sanity of the people who are behind her. I mean, this woman sounds like a child.

She shouldn't even, you know, she shouldn't, she should be stripped of all of her titles. She should be deported if you were to ask me, you know, to tell you the truth, even though I realize she's — I guess she was born here.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Kathleen Sgamma

Trump Cabinet Nominee Withdraws Over (Sane) January 6 Comments

Kathleen Sgamma, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Bureau of Land Management, sent shockwaves throughout Washington, D.C., on Thursday after withdrawing her name just hours before her confirmation hearing.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah announced Sgamma’s withdrawal at the start of the hearing, but Politico reported that her decision came after investigative outlet Documented published a 2021 memo where the oil and gas lobbyist condemned Trump’s role in spreading misinformation about the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

“I am disgusted by the violence I witnessed yesterday and President Trump’s role in spreading misinformation that incited it. I’m disgusted he discredited all the good work he did reorienting the judiciary back toward respect for the rule of law and constitution by dishonoring the vote of the People and the rulings of those very same judges on his numerous challenges,” the memo quotes Sgamma saying.

Sgamma likely withdrew her nomination not because she’s still upset with Trump, but because the leak of her past comments is embarrassing for both of them. After all, she knew about the Capitol attack when she was nominated and seemed totally on board with Trump’s energy agenda at the time.

While her comments about the insurrection were out of step with today’s GOP, they reflected the outrage that many Republicans shared in the immediate aftermath. And though Sgamma distanced herself from Trump at that time, she’s certainly no liberal—she even contributed to Project 2025.

Trump has continued defending the insurrectionists, calling them “patriots” and even pardoning them on Day 1 of his second term. He’s since doubled down on his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, insisting that anyone who refuses to spread his lies is the real problem. And it seems that Sgamma has now bought into Trump’s propaganda.

“Unfortunately, at this time, I need to withdraw my nomination. I will continue to support President Trump and fight for his agenda to Unleash American Energy in the private sector,” Sgamma said in her resignation statement.

While some Republican senators told Politico they weren’t given a heads-up about the withdrawal, some Trump allies, including former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, suggested that Sgamma’s withdrawal was inevitable.

“Individuals who know their views don’t align with the president… cause needless harm and conflict, hindering the president’s agenda,” he wrote on X.

Sgamma’s resignation marks the third Trump cabinet pick to either withdraw or have their nomination pulled.

Earlier, the White House backed off nominating Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York for United Nations ambassador, fearing losing a reliable GOP vote in their razor-thin House majority. Similarly, David Weldon’s nomination to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was pulled once it became clear he didn’t have the votes to get confirmed.

With the Bureau of Land Management overseeing energy production on federally owned lands—a key part of Trump’s second-term priorities—it remains to be seen whether his energy agenda will take another hit following Sgamma’s withdrawal.

While her decision may have been political, it also highlights the ongoing consequences of the insurrection, raising questions about whether there’s truly a divide between Trump and those who refuse to embrace his false election claims.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Top Trump Staffer Warns Nominees To Refrain From Social Media Posting

Top Trump Staffer Warns Nominees To Refrain From Social Media Posting

Susie Wiles, Donald Trump’s pick for chief of staff, issued a memo last Sunday to Trump’s Cabinet nominees ordering them to stop making social media posts without approval ahead of the upcoming Senate confirmation hearings.

“All intended nominees should refrain from any public social media posts without prior approval of the incoming White House counsel,”the memo said, according to the New York Post.

Wiles also noted, “I am reiterating that no member of the incoming administration or Transition speaks for the United States or the President-elect himself.”

The missive comes after the spectacular flame out of former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general and the ongoing controversies of several other nominees, including Pete Hegseth, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mehmet Oz, and Tulsi Gabbard.

Gaetz’s nomination was withdrawn after the resurfacing of sordid allegations of illicit drug use and sexual behavior, including sending money to multiple women via PayPal and Venmo. Gaetz’s activity on social media was a key part of the controversy, as the House Ethics Committee's report notes.

“From 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use,” the report states.

Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, has been accused of financial mismanagement, sexual assault, and public drunkenness. In response to reporting on these allegations, Hegseth has taken to social media to complain about “anti-Christian bigotry” in the media, the “lying press”, and the “Left Wing hack groupProPublica.

Anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has also made strange social media posts. He recently posted a meme on X characterizing the medical industry as “financially dependent on you being sick,” as well as a video of himself with CGI-generated electric eyes and a link to his merchandise site.

An anonymous source with the Trump transition team claimed that the order to stop social media posts is not related to the recent online infighting between Trump megadonor Elon Musk and anti-immigration MAGA supporters. But the timing of the edict, coming directly from Trump’s right-hand woman, is extremely convenient.

Musk recently went on a posting frenzy, calling MAGA fans “upside-down and backwards” in their understanding of immigration issues, while telling one person to “take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face.”

The controversy generated international headlines, and Trump was dragged into commenting on the discussion—a less-than-ideal situation as he prepares for his inauguration.

Trump of all people telling others to be more mindful about social media posts is an ironic development. Trump made a name for himself as a political figure largely due to constantly posting inflammatory messages online. Most notoriously, he called on his supporters to protest the results of the 2020 election after losing to President Joe Biden.

“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” he wrote.

In the aftermath of his post, more than a thousand were arrested (including Trump), several related deaths occurred, and Trump was impeached for a second time.

But, hey, Trump’s Cabinet nominees won’t be posting on social media for a little while.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

'Please Take Care Of Us': Low-Income Trump Voters Fear Budget Cuts

'Please Take Care Of Us': Low-Income Trump Voters Fear Budget Cuts

At his 2024 campaign rallies, Donald Trump repeatedly blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for inflation — which he promised to fix if he won the election. And that messaging proved effective: Trump, according to the Cook Political Report, won 312 electoral votes and defeated Democratic presidential nominee Harris by roughly 1.5 percent in the popular vote.

One of the swing states that Trump won was Pennsylvania, where he promised low-income voters that he would bring down inflation if he won.

According to Washington Post reporter Tim Craig, those voters will have a rude awakening if they experience benefit cuts during Trump's second administration.

In an article published the day after Christmas, Craig cites New Castle, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh, as a place where Trump performed well among low-income voters.

"Trump carried the Pennsylvania city of New Castle by about 400 votes, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to win here in nearly 70 years," Craig explains. "More than 1 in 4 residents live in poverty, and the median income in this former steel and railroad hub ranks as one of the lowest in Pennsylvania. New Castle's poorest residents weren't alone in putting their faith in Trump. Network exit polls suggest he erased the advantage Democrats had with low-income voters across the country."

Craig adds, "Fifty percent of voters from families with an income of less than $50,000 a year cast their ballots for Trump, according to the data, compared with 48 percent for Vice President Kamala Harris."

But now, according to Craig, "low-income Americans who voted for Trump" are hoping he will "keep their benefits intact" even though other Republicans are urging the president-elect "to reduce federal spending."

In New Castle, Craig notes, "federal benefits"—including food stamps and Medicaid — "have helped keep residents afloat."

Lori Mosura, a struggling New Castle resident, 2024 Trump voter and single mother who receives food stamps, told the Post, "We helped get you in office; please take care of us. Please don't cut the things that help the most vulnerable."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

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