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President-elect Donald Trump is looking for TV experience, even as President Joe Biden boasted that he had selected the most diverse Cabinet in history, calling it “like America.”
So far, most of President Trump’s picks lack racial and gender diversity, including several women and one Latino, but black Americans Not selected yet. Consistent with President Trump’s policies, they are going beyond the usual boundaries for candidates for government office. The goal is to shake up Washington.
That shouldn’t necessarily come as a shock to a former president who likes to see attractive people defend him on TV, and who rose to fame on New York tabloids and reality shows. But despite this, it is surprising to see the number of television and entertainment talents that President Trump has tapped into his second term.
The cabinet is still in the process of being formed, and important roles such as the finance secretary have not yet been filled. Moreover, not all of his picks at Fox News have held cabinet positions. In the latest development, President Trump is reportedly eyeing Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service employee turned right-wing podcaster who retired from hosting a Fox News show in 2023, to become Secretary of the Secret Service. . There are others vying for the position.
Read below to learn more about the impressive casting sheet.
The most notable example of a made-for-TV Cabinet was President Trump’s announcement of his pick for secretary of defense. Pete Hegseth is a weekend host on Fox News with a great physique and hair who was kicked out of the Army National Guard because of his tattoos.
Hegseth has big ideas for reforming the military, including firing some generals, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and ending the military’s diversity program. He also wants women to be removed from combat roles, something Trump’s non-Cabinet nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, may object to. He served in a field medical unit during the US war in Iraq and is currently in the Army. Reserve officer.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, who most people know as Dr. Oz, is a heart surgeon who turned a guest appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s show into a day job. He gave it up to run unsuccessfully for the Pennsylvania Senate in 2022. Days before announcing his appointment, he was selling vitamin supplements online.
President Trump wants Oz to take over the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the most important agency that most Americans may have never heard of. CMS oversees health insurance for more than 160 million Americans.
Christian TV host to the Holy Land
Mike Huckabee is the governor of Arkansas, a position currently held by his daughter Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as press secretary during Trump’s first term. During his failed bids for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, Mr. Huckabee hosted a show on Fox News.
These days, he hosts a show on Trinity Broadcasting Network, a Christian broadcaster. If confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Israel, he would bring his evangelical worldview to Jerusalem, where President Trump moved the U.S. embassy. Trump’s choice is controversial for those who envision a two-state solution for the Middle East, as Huckabee once said, “There are no Palestinians.”
Long before Sean Duffy became a member of the Wisconsin House of Representatives, he was once a contestant on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston,” an early part of the reality show that Trump also lived on.
Duffy met his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, on the set of the spinoff Road Rules: All Stars. She is currently a co-host on “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has worked with Hegseth for many years. Duffy will be leaving his role as co-host on FOX Business after Congress, as he was nominated by President Trump to be secretary of transportation, responsible for the nation’s highways, rail systems, airways and ports.
Gabbard, a former congresswoman who left the Democratic Party, is one of two former Democratic presidential candidates, along with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominated by the Trump administration. She has appeared on Fox News hundreds of times. It recently signed a deal to produce a series of documentary-style videos about Elon Musk’s X.
Gabbard, who was nominated by President Trump to be director of national intelligence, has drawn criticism for defending Russia and Syria in the name of anti-war ideals. Hillary Clinton once said she thought the Russians were “nurturing” Gabbard to run as a third-party candidate.
Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is in charge of coordinating President Trump’s immigration policy. By serving as “border czar,” Homan will not have to be confirmed by the Senate.
In fact, Homan was the first of Trump’s nominees announced from the Fox News orbit. CNN’s Brian Stelter wrote at the time:
The revolving door between television and government is a bipartisan and often criticized phenomenon, but it never stopped during President Trump’s first term. There are 20 known moves from Fox to Trump between 2017 and 2020, including Anthony Scaramucci, Richard Grenell, Heather Nauert, Morgan Ortagus and Bill Shine.
Anti-mainstream conspiracy theorist and author oversees health policy
President Trump nominated Kennedy to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. Confidence in the necessity of vaccines has fallen sharply, especially among Republicans. Say what you want about Kennedy’s interesting ideas for making American food less processed and healthier. Check out his toned body as he shows off his shirtless workout. However, it is impossible to overcome the vaccine skeptics who push baseless theories.
He wrote a book full of baseless conspiracy theories attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci and claiming that the country’s former top infectious disease doctor colluded with Bill Gates and drug companies to undermine public health. did. It was a New York Times bestseller. As CNN’s Peter Bergen pointed out in his interview with Kennedy, this completely undermines Kennedy’s claim that he is being silenced, a common claim made by anti-mainstream media stars. is.
During President Trump’s first term, Linda McMahon led the Trump administration’s Small Business Administration. She served as transition co-chair and has now been selected for the role of Secretary of Education. McMahon is the former CEO of WWE, the empire she co-founded with her husband Vince McMahon.
In fact, Trump has appeared as part of WWE operations many years ago, but this year his preferences seem to be leaning more towards Ultimate Fighting Championship events.