Donald Trump, the former and future President has been the President in waiting for two weeks now. He, along with those who supported him are exuberantly immersing themselves in the moment…as well they should. That’s how democracy works. There will be, and always would have been, a peaceful transfer of power…as long as Trump won. Remember January 6, 2021? Trum’s supporters all emphasize he won, so let’s look forward, not backward. That would be a fair, and much more resonant point, if only Mr. Trump had embraced that outlook back in late 2020, and early 2021. Hell, even to this day, he has refused to concede he lost the election. But I digress.
Trump’s supporters claim Trump had a massive win, and with it, a mandate. Well, yes, sort of. Why sort of? He did win all 7 of the swing states. That is a compelling argument. However, even though he did amass more votes than Kamala Harris, it was technically, not a two-person race. In addition to Ms. Harris, Jill Stein, Cornel West, and even Rober F. Kennedy, Jr. appeared on some ballots. The result is, at the end of the day, Trump failed to reach 50% of the vote. He won by a plurality. So, in some ways, it’s not the dominant performance that it may have appeared to be two weeks ago. He massed 312 Electoral votes; just 5 more than Joe Biden did in 2020. But to draw a finer point on putting the matter in context, Barack Obama won 365 Electoral votes in 2008, and 332 Electoral votes in 2012. You know what, I don’t recall a single Republican proclaiming Obama had a mandate, in either year and he bested Trump’s Electoral vote total by 20 in 2012, and by 53 in 2008, so miss me with the faux narrative.
Trump won, and many Democrats seem surprised by that result. But surprise doesn’t equate to mandate. As it currently stands, his actual margin of victory is the 44th worst out of 51 elections since 1824. He won. Let’s leave it at that.
Winning does have its privileges. And Trump is taking full advantage. He has moved quickly to build his cadre of appointments and nominees. So far, they include:
Chief of Staff – Susie Wiles
Steven Cheung – White House Communications Director
Karoline Leavitt - White House Press Secretary
Matt Gaetz – Attorney General
Todd Blanche - Deputy Attorney General
Dr. Mehmet Oz Administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Linda McMahon – Education Secretary
Tulsi Gabbard – Director of National Intelligence
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. – Department of Health and Human Services
Pete Hegseth (Fox News) – Secretary of Defense
Stephen Miller – Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy
Tom Homan – Border Czar
Mike Huckabee – U.S. Ambassador to Israel
Elon Musk & Vivek Ramaswamy - Heads of the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) Musk is likely to serve as an outside consultant, evading a requirement for Senate approval
Sean Duffy (Fox News) - Secretary of Transportation
Marco Rubio – Secretary of State
Elise Stefanik - Ambassador to the United Nations
Lee Zeldin Environmental Protection Agency Administrator
Howard Lutnick – Commerce Secretary
Brendan Carr – Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
John Radcliffe – Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Kristi Noem – Secretary of Homeland Security
Doug Burgum – Secretary of Interior
Doug Collins - Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Chris Wright - Secretary of the Department of Energy
Mike Waltz – National Security Advisor
William McGinley – White House Counsel
Jay Clayton – U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York
During the campaign, Trump promised to visit vengeance on those he felt opposed him. His has offered several appointments that push the upper limits of reason. He has signaled that he fully expects the Senate to confirm them, or provide him the option to make recess appointments, a kind of wonky exception to regular order, whereby, when the Senate is in recess, the President can make appointments that would normally be subject to advice and consent.
To be clear, not all of Trump’s appointments are controversial in nature. But some are. Below are a few of the ones that are.
Gaetz, Musk, Hegseth, Kennedy – allegations of sexual improprieties, including lawsuits, and Congressional investigations
Tulsi Gabbard – Democrat turned Republican is suspected of being a Russian sympathizer, and a Bashar al-Assad (Syrian President) apologist.
Mehmed Oz – Promoted several weight loss products, deemed false advertising, and drawing Congressional scrutiny.
Marco Rubio – Forever Little Marco
Kristi Noem – In her book, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, tells a story about killing her 14-month-old female dog, “Cricket,” which she shot and killed because the dog did not submit to training for pheasant hunting, due to an aggressive personality. Michael Vick is giving this one the side eye.
Sean Duffy – Like Pete Hegseth, a Fox News alum.
Mike Huckabee – Asserted “There is no such thing as a Palestinian. Peace in the Middle East?
The argument that Trump won, and therefore deserves to get to pick the Cabinet he wants will probably prevail in most of these cases. Like it or not that’s politics. It underscores the crucial nature of voting in every election. But it is what it is. We are here now. Whether you like it or not, “To the Victor Go the Spoils: Trump Takes a Victory Lap!”
I’m done; holla back!
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