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This is an adapted excerpt from the Dec. 15 episode of “Ayman.”
One way Donald Trump is consistent? For years, he’s been branding his enemies or his critics “losers” and those who kiss the ring as “winners.” And yet, for someone who’s all about winning, there’s a striking pattern emerging in many of Trump’s picks for positions in his Cabinet and administration.
As Trump fills out his Cabinet, we’re seeing appearances from a whole lot of political losers — people who were defeated in elections in just about every way imaginable.
Let’s start with Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, or “Little Marco,” as Trump repeatedly called the senator as he wiped the floor with him during the Republican presidential primary back in 2016. Rubio may now enjoy a second act as Trump’s new secretary of state.
Trump has welcomed figures into the fold who have lost key races for the Republican Party.
Then there’s Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, the onetime surrogate for Bernie Sanders who lost the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.
Don’t forget Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who ran against Trump in this year’s election as an independent candidate but dropped out before the election. The controversial anti-vaccine activist is now Trump’s choice for secretary of health and human services.
It’s not just people who’ve failed trying to compete with Trump getting a second chance. Trump has also welcomed figures into the fold who have lost key races for the Republican Party, like Dr. Mehmet Oz, whom Trump has tapped to be head of Medicare and Medicaid. Oz lost a Pennsylvania Senate race two years ago to Democratic Sen. John Fetterman.
Or Linda McMahon, Trump’s choice for secretary of education, who lost two Senate bids to Democrats in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012. And Lori Chavez-Deremer, who just lost her re-election campaign for a congressional seat in Oregon to Democrat Janelle Bynum. She's now Trump's pick for secretary of labor.
Now, it might seem a little odd for Trump to be choosing so many political losers. That is until we remember who we’re dealing with. Trump has said that the biggest mistake of his first term was choosing the wrong people. In other words, people who would, at times, push back against his policies. Aides would try to put up guardrails, out-maneuvering Trump by slow-walking or ignoring directives they saw as ill-advised.
Trump has said that the biggest mistake of his first term was choosing the wrong people. In other words, people who would push back against his policies.
Let’s remember, for example, when in 2020 Trump wanted to send active-duty U.S. troops to respond to mass protests after the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by a Minneapolis police officer. Trump aides resisted, concerned about the illegal use of the U.S. military against its own citizens.
But now, some of his current aides and allies tell The Associated Press that Trump is choosing people he believes are fully committed to his “America First” agenda and those he thinks can best execute it. With these picks for his new administration, Trump is giving new political life to people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get into a presidential administration or Cabinet, either due to the impact of their political losses or in many cases, a complete lack of experience.
Trump is seeking out people who need him and, as a result, will be entirely malleable to his will. All of this allows him to take even more control during his second time in the White House to reshape the presidency as we know it.
Allison Detzel contributed.