PBS’s weekly political roundtable Washington Week with the Atlantic gathered for the second time since Donald Trump’s reelection and showed revulsion to his proposed cabinet picks. Particularly put out was veteran liberal New York Times Washington Bureau Chief Elisabeth Bumiller, who used aggressively antagonistic language to describe two picks. It's a "rogues' gallery," including Tulsi Gabbard, a "girlfriend" of the Russians.
The dictionary defines "rogues' gallery" as "a collection of pictures of persons arrested as criminals." Which of the cabinet picks are criminals?
Moderator Jeffrey Goldberg set the slanted stage up with this poison-pill encapsulation of Trump’s first few nominees.
Jeffrey Goldberg: Donald Trump names a vaccine denier to head the Health and Human Services Department. For attorney general, he picks a person who most likely wouldn’t be able to pass an FBI background check. And he has nominated as Director of National Intelligence an apologist for Vladimir Putin….Elizabeth, let me start with you. If you could just frame this out for us, these nominations, especially Matt Gaetz, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard, what does this telling you about both Trump’s mindset and the direction, the policy direction of the incoming administration?
Bumiller didn’t miss her chance to pile on.
Elizabeth Bumiller: Well, the policy direction is confused and chaotic. His mindset is just to -- you know, it’s shock and awe, but mostly shock. Some people say it’s trolling Washington.
She admitted things “started out somewhat normal this week” when Trump named Sen. Marco Rubio to head up the State Department and Rep. Michael Waltz as National Security Adviser.
BUMILLER: But then we got to the revenge of the Deep State, the three agencies that, that gave [Trump] the most trouble when he was president the first time -- the military, the intelligence agencies, and the Justice Department. the three agencies that, that gave him [Trump] the most trouble when he was president the first time -- the military, the intelligence agencies, and the Justice Department.
And he put people in those jobs, Matt Gaetz, who is, by the count of many many Republicans in the Senate, completely unqualified, Tulsi Gabbard in charge of the intelligence agencies, she is a favorite of the Russians. They call her “my girlfriend’ on Russian TV. And then for the Defense, we have Pete Hegseth, who was convicted of military crimes and then pardoned by Trump. So, it's a rogues' gallery.
Who said Hegseth was "convicted of crimes"?? Hegseth did convince Trump to pardon several servicemen convicted of military crimes. How sloppy are these reporters?
Then, Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic dismissed all the picks: "These are people to sort of paraphrase what someone once said about Jesse Jackson, these are mostly people who have never run anything but their mouth." That's a strange insult coming from journalists. Then he mocked Gov. Kristi Noem because she's only run South Dakota. Actually, these people couldn't figure out which Dakota she governed.
PBS: Where the educated reporters talk?
