Trump is ‘throwing acid at the Mona Lisa of American law enforcement’
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Donald Trump’s cabinet picks for key American law enforcement positions is like a “bad dream,” says Republican strategist Mike Murphy.
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In brief:
- Donald Trump's potential cabinet picks for 2025 are highly controversial, including Pete Hegseth for Defense, Kash Patel for FBI Director, and Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence.
- These appointments have raised significant concerns among traditional Republicans, with each nominee facing substantial criticism in regards to their qualifications, past behaviour and political views.
- Republican strategist Mike Murphy questions whether they will get confirmed, and foresees a potential backlash once the details of these appointments become more widely understood by the electorate.
If you don’t like the sound of Donald Trump’s cabinet picks so far, cover your eyes and ears for what’s about to come.
The president-elect has raised eyebrows with controversial figures nominated for key roles come January 2025.
Most notable is Robert F. Kennedy - the anti-vaxxer who wants to remove fluoride from drinking water – who will soon become secretary of Health and Human Services.
But it’s not just America’s health that could be compromised by the new leadership team as the controversial picks kept coming. American law enforcement organisations are set to see some big changes too.
"There are three really scary apples left; Hegseth for defense, Kash Patel and, of course, Tulsi Gabbard,” Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist and co-host of the Hacks on Tap podcast, said on the latest episode of The News Agents USA.
These picks are “like a bad dream for us old, traditional Republicans,” he adds.
Donald Trump recently announced Pete Hegseth as defence secretary, Kash Patel as FBI director and Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.
Hegseth, a former military veteran and Fox News host, has faced a series of questions over his suitability for the role.
First, for his lack of qualifications, second, because of previous allegations of sexual assault and excess drinking.
There are now rumours circulating that Hegseth won’t get the vote numbers to be confirmed and Trump might ditch him for the role in favour of Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
Whilst Murphy thinks Hegseth is “on the chopping block,” on Wednesday he told a CBS News reporter that he still has Trump’s support.
He said: "I spoke to the president-elect this morning. He said 'keep going, keep fighting'... Why would I back down?”
Kash Patel, who Murphy describes as having “a talent for sucking up to Trump” and a “chip on his shoulder”, was a former Republican staffer.“He worked in the Defense Department in a fairly important position during the first Trump administration, where he proceeded to terrify the career staffers, even Trump loyalists like Mike Pompeo, who would later run CIA.They couldn't stand him because he's a bomb thrower, as we say in American politics, and he's a bit irresponsible”.
“When Patel’s not selling crypto coins and Trump fan merchandise.. He’s blowing up the Justice Department”.
Patel has called for significant reforms in the FBI, saying he would decentralize it by closing down its D.C headquarters on “day one” and turn it into a museum of the “deep state” the next day.
He would send the 7,000 people who work there out to be cops instead.
"What do you need 7,000 people there for?" he said in a video on X.
"What are all these people doing here? Looking for the next government promotion, looking for their next fancy government title?”
Murphy questions his logic; “Why do we need 7000 people in the FBI? Well, ask Putin why we do”.
He thinks that Patel too won’t be confirmed. “This is literally Trump throwing acid at the Mona Lisa of American law enforcement organisations”.
Trump’s choice for director of national intelligence has been no more reassuring to existing staffers in such institutions.
“The career and serious intelligence people are, to use a technical phrase, bat shit over Tulsi Gabbard,” Murphy says.
If Gabbard is confirmed for the DNI position, she’d become one of Trump’s top intelligence advisers overseeing 18 departments, with a $100 billion budget.
A former military officer and congresswoman, Gubbard ran as Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 before joining the Republican party in 2024.
She is anti-war and opposes military intervention, including in Ukraine. She has previously posted Russian propaganda on social media, and is accused of being a Russian and Syrian sympathiser, having met with Syria’s authoritarian leader President Bashar al-Assad in 2017 and saying he “is not the enemy of the United States”.
But, is all of this, Emily asks Murphy, what the American people want?
“Do you think the people that voted for Trump, and that is nearly half of America, are saying, ‘yeah, this, this is the kind of stuff we want. We want disruption. We want somebody to blow up the Hoover Building, bring it on’. Or are people hearing this and thinking, ‘whoa, this wasn't part of the deal?’”
Murphy acknowledges the people who voted for Trump “want change”.
“They like the fact that Washington huffers and puffers don't like Trump,” but, he says, “the devil's in the details”.
“The American electorate, like most electorates, is not what we would call detail obsessed.
“So there's a lag between when backlash happens”.
Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents USA.
