‘He’s going to pick Dr Phil as surgeon general, isn’t he’: The internet hilariously tries to predict Trump’s pick for Surgeon General

After a slew of dangerous and unqualified cabinet picks, the internet tries to predict who Donald Trump will appoint as Surgeon General, and their guesses, from Dr. Phil to Aaron Rodgers, are hardly even an exaggeration.

As Trump continues picking his cabinet nominees, it’s become exceedingly clear he’s prioritizing those loyal to him above all else. He very clearly wants his advisory body made up of those who will do his bidding without question, even if it means choosing those with no qualifications for the roles. After centering his campaign around false claims of Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs, Trump nominated Kristi Noem for Secretary of Homeland Security after she destroyed her chances of being his running mate by admitting to killing a puppy. Trump then left Americans speechless by his decision to appoint Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, making him one of the most unqualified nominees for the role in history. To top it off, he appointed Tulsi Gabbard, an alleged Russian asset who is on TSA’s terrorist watchlist, as his Director of National Intelligence.

Based on the pattern quickly emerging from Trump’s cabinet picks, internet users have begun to guess who he’ll choose as his Surgeon General.

The internet has little hope for Donald Trump’s Surgeon General

Surgeon General recently began trending on X as users listed their hilarious guesses for who Trump’s Surgeon General will be. The Surgeon General is the head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and is essentially the leading government official on public health matters. Currently, Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy serves as Surgeon General, a role he also served during Barack Obama’s second presidency. He is a Harvard and Yale graduate who founded VISIONS Worldwide, Doctors for America, and served within the United States Department of Health and Human Services before he was appointed Surgeon General.

Given Trump’s track record, many anticipate the next Surgeon General to have far fewer qualifications than Murthy. His criteria will probably be “preferably white Trump loyalist with optional medical experience.” Some anticipate it will be Trump’s doctor, Ronny Jackson, although his medical license has reportedly expired, and the Navy demoted him after alleged inappropriate behavior. Still, internet users had fun thinking of some other potential candidates. Several users stated it would be Trump’s favorite doctor: Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Given Trump’s odd fixation on the fictional serial killer, he’d likely choose Lecter if he could. One user suggested he might pull another Hegseth and appoint TV personality Dr. Phil.

Others posted fake announcements of Trump nominating notorious TV/movie doctors for the role of General Surgeon, including Dr. Leo Spaceman from 30 Rock, Dr. Nick from The Simpsons, Dr. Suess, or Dr. Nikolas Van Helsing from Cannonball Run. However, others felt Trump would go for a real-life “doctor” with a more controversial background, such as fraudster Dr. Malachi Love-Robinson or the murderous Dr. Christopher Daniel Duntsch.

One user noted that it didn’t matter who Trump selected as General Surgeon because his followers would adamantly defend anyone, even if it were Jeffrey Dahmer. A few users suggested that Trump might even go for a random non-doctor if he can avoid Senate confirmations. Perhaps he’ll go for the soda brand Dr. Pepper, noted conspiracy theorist Aaron Rodgers, or anyone who has had surgery.

While most of the posts are joking, given how things are going, Americans wouldn’t even be surprised anymore if Trump genuinely named Dr. Phil or Aaron Rodgers as Surgeon General. He has proven his cabinet cannot be taken seriously and is seemingly trying to set a record for the most unqualified department heads in American history.