The Donald Trump administration is starting to look more of the same, and some of the names being floated around are not what the president-elect promised on the campaign trail, says one Republican senator.
Speaking in an interview with CNN, Kentucky Republican Senator and 2016 presidential candidate Rand Paul is warning that some of the names Trump is likely to pick for positions in his cabinet are “totally unfit” for government and should be passed up. Otherwise, according to Paul, it is “worrisome.”
For instance, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is being considered for Secretary of State, while former United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton could potentially be in a Trump White House. There have also been reports of Jeff Sessions possibly being Defense Secretary (SEE: Scary: Rudy Giuliani tops list as Secretary of State, Jeff Sessions may be next Secretary of Defense). Steve Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs partner, is being considered for Treasury Secretary.
Paul explained that many Republicans were concerned about Hillary Clinton’s ties to foreign governments and all of the money she received as part of the pay-to-play schemes. If Trump wants to move away from that kind of government, Paul notes, then he needs someone who shares his foreign policy.
“The thing Donald Trump said over and over again was that he was opposed to the Iraq War. He learned that lesson that regime change in the Middle East was not a good idea. Yet I don’t see Giuliani coming out with statements like that,” Paul said.
“I certainly don’t see John Bolton. Both have been big cheerleaders for the Iraq War and more intervention in the Middle East. I hope Donald Trump will pick someone consistent with what he said on the campaign trail that the Iraq war was a mistake. Having a regime change in the Middle East is a mistake.”
If Bolton was nominated Paul confirmed that he couldn’t vote for him unless he “repudiated his vote for the war in the Middle East regime change throughout the Middle East.”
“You want a diplomat in charge of diplomacy, not a bomb thrower,” said Paul, who recently won re-election in a landslide. “So, no. John Bolton’s totally unfit to be secretary of state. And I hope that the Trump administration will say, ‘You know what? He does not represent what Donald Trump represents,’ which is change, and which is the understanding the Iraq War was a mistake, and that regime change in the Middle East has been a mistake.”
Paul’s remarks come one day after publishing an op-ed on Rare entitled “Will Donald Trump betray voters by hiring John Bolton?” He pretty much iterated the point that Trump understands the Middle East wars have been failures, while Bolton still does not acknowledge this fact.
Here is one great excerpt from his op-ed:
“Trump has blamed George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for helping to create ISIS — but should add John Bolton to that list, who essentially agreed with all three on our regime change debacles.”
Can Paul gradually rebuild his credibility in Washington? If he is able to hold Trump’s feet to the fire and return to libertarian principles then he could be the one to lead the Republican Party in 2020 or 2024.
It’s safe say that you won’t find any Pauls in Trump’s administration over the next four years.
Leave a Comment