The incoming Trump administration, as I recently remarked to someone, feels a bit like a clown car.
The absurd nominees to some of the highest positions in federal government just keep emerging, each one seemingly more unqualified and questionable than the last. We have several new stories up that illustrate the clownery: Incoming press secretary Karoline Leavitt was paid to write articles lauding a Chinese con man, my colleague Dan Friedman reports. Kash Petal, Trump's FBI pick, who has promoted election denialism, has also supported QAnon conspiracy theories, David Corn writes. As I reported yesterday, Trump's selection to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ex–Florida Rep. Dave Weldon, has promoted abortion- and vaccine-related misinformation and conspiracy theories. And those are just a handful of Trump's recently announced appointees.
But among the most controversial—at least after Matt Gaetz dropped out of consideration to be attorney general over accusations of drug use and sexual misconduct—is Fox News host Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee for defense secretary. As I detail here, Hegseth faces a rape accusation, as well as additional allegations of abuse toward women. According to a bombshell New Yorker report published last night, Hegseth also stands accused of a drinking problem, sexual impropriety, and financial misconduct, all of which reportedly forced him out of leadership positions from two nonprofit advocacy groups catering to veterans. (If you haven't been keeping up with all things Hegseth, I compiled a running list of the allegations.)
Writing this newsletter led me to an article in Car and Driver about the physics of clown cars. Turns out they're not an illusion assisted by trap doors: The cars are stripped of their seats and all other interior features to maximize space for the clowns to cram together.
—Julianne McShane
