Who Would Staff a Second Trump Term?
Who Would Staff a Second Trump Term?
Spineless sycophants, that’s who.
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SECRET POD: Party On, Dude.🔐
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FREDERICK E. HOXIE AND DENNIS AFTERGUT: Who Would Staff a Second Trump Term?
But a Trump re-election remains far from impossible. And if he does return, he will further erode public faith in government and end the rule of law—and he’ll do it with yes men.
Imagine his next cabinet. There won’t be the likes of Rex Tillerson, John Kelly, James Mattis, or H.R. McMaster hanging around—no one with a spine, let alone a conscience.
Former Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro, currently under indictment for contempt of Congress after he defied a Jan. 6th Committee subpoena, has offered some names for Trump Team 2.0. They include the bombastic Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as attorney general and Kash Patel, the sycophantic and ambitious former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes who was briefly the chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense, as the director of national intelligence.
Republicans are so pissed about the Manchin deal that they talked themselves into voting against wounded veterans. Meanwhile, the Dems have the wind at their backs for the first time in a year. Tim Miller joins Charlie Sykes for a jam-packed weekend pod.
Arc Digital’s Nicholas Grossman joins Beg to Differ to debate prosecuting Trump. The group also addresses crazy GOP candidates; the Manchin deal; the Respect for Marriage Act; the economy, and more.
Eric and Eliot host long time friend and colleague Professor Aaron Friedberg of Princeton to discuss Aaron’s new book Getting China Wrong. They cover why we have persistently underestimated China’s rise as a revisionist power, the failures of the West’s “engagement” strategy, the elements of a different approach to China, dividing Russia and China, and the sorry state of academic political science.
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Will, Tim and Jonathan discuss the latest from the January 6 Committee hearings, whether the DOJ will indict, should President Biden consider pardons, the latest Senate map and more.
CLARE COFFEY: You’re Not Too Good for Tourism.
It was, predictably, en la cantina. Men sat on plastic chairs playing dominoes, women shared limonadas out of enormous fishbowl glasses at the bar, and Vicente Fernández’s tragicomic grito was blasting over the airwaves. I was sitting as inconspicuously as possible, congratulating myself on the impeccable Spanish with which I had conducted my order, when one of the dominoes players came up to the bar and ordered two shots of tequila. He handed one to me. “De mi corazón,” he said, “Te invito a México.”
The worst had happened. He had pegged me for a tourist.
TIM MILLER: So You Want To Start a Third Party?
Starting a new third party is all the rage these days, especially out here in Never Trumpistan.
The Yang Gang is teaming up with some future former Republicans for the Forward Party. Rich people have
burnedgiven power couple Mark Penn and Nancy Jacobson $50 million to try and make a No Labels ticket happen. My friend Juleanna Glover made a (fairly serious) case for a Jon Stewart candidacy. Say the phrase “unity ticket” and clap three times and Bill Kristol might show up in your living room. The third party question is raised at all my book-tour stops. (Coming to a city near you!) And it is the subtext of every conversation with a lonely, politically homeless soul wondering What Are We Going to Do.During the Trump era I have often been the rain cloud that washes away the luminescent longings of the third-party dreamers, which isn’t a job I enjoy since many are friends or mentors or folks whose courage in the face of Trumpism I deeply admire.
But I soldier on anyway. Trying to convince them they are actually Red Dog Democrats. Or explaining why their idea might accidentally bring about a fascism even though they have nice arms and nicer intentions.
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
Happy Friday! We’re doing a camp-in night, and tomorrow I join the Izaak Walton League. If you have a club close, or an Elks or an Eagles, join. You won’t regret it. Trust me.
China threatens war over Pelosi’s possible visit. Really, China?
Wanna go third party? I wish the people behind it well, but I agree with JVL. (And Tim.)
Trump tempts fate… Over golf markers.
The January 6 Hearings Are Changing Republicans’ Minds… Sarah Longwell at The Atlantic.
JVL and Tom Nichols? Let their negativity be your guide.
Letting Go…Matt Labash weighs in.
Viktor Orbán, Rod Dreher, and Me… Damon Linker on his old friend.
That’s it for me. Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
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