Talk about a corrupt bargain
By all accounts Donald Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense is getting closer and closer to dead. The details and allegations against him keep growing worse, the Republican Senate is getting antsy about him, and even Trump’s own camp is now leaking that it’s ready to pull the plug. Of course someone has to be Secretary of Defense, and that’s where things are suddenly getting very eyebrow raising.
Trump is now reportedly now considering yanking Hegseth and replacing him with Ron DeSantis. This is notable for a few reasons. DeSantis is term limited, so he needs a new job. DeSantis does have a military background at least, but he’s also a small minded extremist vengeful sociopath, so he’s fully unsuitable for the job. But that doesn’t keep people from getting nominated in Trump world. Here’s the catch though.
The Bulwark is reporting that Donald Trump wants something in return. The deal, supposedly, is that Donald Trump makes Ron DeSantis the Secretary of Defense, and in return DeSantis appoints Trump’s daughter in law Lara Trump to the Senate to replace Marco Rubio. If true, talk about a corrupt bargain.
Everything Donald Trump does is corrupt, so it’s not surprising. But this is so on the nose, even for Trump, it really stands out – in its stupidity. Such a deal would taint DeSantis’ nomination and would also allow Donald Trump’s allies to tag him with gross nepotism. Republicans in Florida might like having Trump’s daughter in law as their new Senator, but a lot of voters in the middle in swing states would look at it much more negatively – especially given that the media is framing it as practically a quid pro quo.
Here’s the big picture way to look at it: someone awful is going to be Trump’s Secretary of Defense. And someone awful is going to be appointed to the Senate seat in Florida. So if these idiots really want to go the “nepotism and quid pro quo” route to filling these seats, then at least it’s something we can use against all of them. Remember, the name of the game is driving Trump’s approval rating into the ground as quickly as possible, so his political muscle will evaporate. So in that sense, Trump is welcome to make these kinds of scandalous moves. It just gives us more to use against him.
