New York Post to Trump: “ditch this dreadful duo — Gabbard and Gaetz”

Trump, it says “is wasting important political capital pushing two mediocre nominees out of stubbornness, not necessity”

By Arun Kumar

Even as Donald Trump friendly New York Post praised most of the President-elect’s “risky but promising” cabinet picks, it urged him to rethink his choices of former Hindu American Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and and outgoing congressman Matt Gaetz. Trump has nominated Gabbard as director of national intelligence and chosen Gaetz for attorney general.

“Please, Mr. President, ditch this dreadful duo — Gabbard and Gaetz,” the editorial board of the conservative newspaper part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire News Corp, implored Trump Tuesday.

READ: Trump taps Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence (November 14th, 2024)

“Gaetz and Gabbard are dreadful,” the board wrote. “They’re distracting chaos agents who won’t accomplish what Trump wants them to, and will most likely backfire on his agenda.”

The editorial board praised most of Trump’s “risky but promising” cabinet picks giving “three cheers for the Department of Government Efficiency.”

“The bloated federal government needs outsiders like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to pop open the hood and see what can be fixed, streamlined or chucked,” it wrote. “And if they give New York Times opinion writers the vapors, even better!”

But Gabbard’s and Gaetz’s reputations had left too large of a stain to make either a serious candidate for their positions, it said calling them

“distracting chaos agents who won’t accomplish what Trump wants them to, and will most likely backfire on his agenda.”

Gabbard, like Trump “opposed the Iraq war and wants to limit our foreign escapades,” the board wrote. “But Trump also understands Teddy Roosevelt’s maxim of speaking softly while carrying a big stick.”

“He pulled out of the toothless Iran nuclear deal, then killed Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian agent who was fomenting terrorism through the region,” it noted.

“Gabbard backed the Iran deal, and said the Soleimani killing undermined our national security,” the Post said. “She’s been sympathetic to dictators in Syria and Russia, instead blaming the victims of violence like Ukraine and Israel.”

“She’s speaking softly and carrying no stick,” it said. “There’s a real fear that Gabbard won’t provide Trump with the intelligence he needs, but rather downplay threats with the intention of isolationism.”

“Trump has shown that he can balance the demands of a threatening world while working to avoid dragging America into another unnecessary war. He can only do that if he’s given frank assessments by a dispassionate intelligence officer,” the Post wrote. “Tulsi Gabbard is not that person.”

“But even worse is Matt Gaetz, Trump’s nominee for attorney general,” it said.

“After years of Russia, Russia, Russia, no one has more reason to dislike the Department of Justice than Trump,” it wrote. “We can understand him wanting to throw a hand grenade into a system that investigated parents at school board meetings but turned a blind eye to migrant gangs,” the Post wrote. “But we don’t want him to be blown up by his own grenade.”

“Neither Gabbard nor Gaetz are singular figures for what Trump wants to accomplish,” it said. “Both represent a bigger problem than their own faults reflect. Trump is wasting important political capital pushing two mediocre nominees out of stubbornness, not necessity,” the Post wrote suggesting a rethink about Gabbard and Gaetz.