American voters are losing confidence in Donald Trump, and he isn’t even president yet.
According to a poll conducted by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only 3 out of 10 voters are “highly confident” in Trump’s ability to pick a sensible Cabinet or spend government money wisely. Meanwhile, half of adults are “not at all confident” in the president-elect’s cabinet decisions. One look at his rogue’s gallery of a Cabinet-to-be, and it’s easy to see why.
Many of Trump’s low confidence ratings are from Democrats and Independent voters. According to the poll, 8 out of 10 Democrats are “not at all confident” in Trump’s Cabinet choices. 4 in 10 Independents are “not at all” or “slightly” confident in Trump’s abilities, and only 2 out of 10 are listed as “very” or “extremely” confident. Republican voters are showing more faith in their candidate of choice, but not by much. 4 out of 10 range from “not at all” to “moderately” confident, while 6 out of 10 are “very” to “extremely” confident.
Trump’s decidedly low national approval ratings are hardly indicative of the “unprecedented and powerful mandate” he claims the American people bestowed upon him after his 2024 election win. He won, yes, but his win was anything but historic when counting the number of votes he courted. His “mandate” puts him in 41st place on the scale of presidential election history.
While the majority of Trump’s cabinet picks range from “bad” to “worse,” some of his appointees are particularly abysmal when it comes to personal character and professional qualifications (or total lack thereof). Perhaps Trump’s most infamous choice was initially naming Florida Representative Matt Gaetz as Attorney General. Gaetz had previously been investigated by the Department of Justice (the very organization he was slated to lead) for allegations of sex trafficking. Gaetz later withdrew from his nomination, saying that he didn’t want his subsequent investigation by a House Ethics committee to be a “distraction” for the incoming Trump administration.
When it comes to allegations of sexual misconduct, Gaetz isn’t the only one. Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth is currently battling allegations of sexual assault and alcohol abuse. The former Fox News host has been called unqualified to serve in the position for many reasons, one of which is his stance that women shouldn’t serve in combat roles in the military. His inflammatory rhetoric and intent to use the military to accomplish partisan political goals to “mock, humiliate, intimidate, and crush our leftist opponents” has also drawn significant flak.
But it doesn’t stop there. Trump’s choice for National Intelligence, former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard, has drawn outrage across the intelligence community and the legislative branch of government. After Gabbard posted a video to social media that spread Kremlin-manufactured claims that the U.S. was funding “biolabs” in Ukraine, then-Rep. Adam Kinzinger accused her of embracing “actual Russian propaganda” and called her actions “traitorous.” His criticism was echoed by Senator Mitt Romney, who accused Gabbard of “parroting Russian propaganda.”
Surely that’s the worst of it, right? Far from it. Trump has also appointed a financier and erotic art collector with no military experience to serve as chair of the U.S. Navy. He’s appointed a vaccine conspiracy theorist and a celebrity TV doctor to key positions in public health. He’s appointed a centibillionaire to lead a made-up agency named after an internet meme. Half of adults are “not at all confident” in Trump, but considering this clown show of a potential Cabinet, I’m surprised the number isn’t higher.
Published: Dec 15, 2024 11:40 am