Republican political strategist Karl Rove said that President-elect Donald Trump created undue "chaos and controversy" for himself over three of his Cabinet selections, asserting that confirmation hearings will be "messy and full of bad press."
Rove made the comments in a guest column for The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, taking aim at Trump's selections of Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and Matt Gaetz, who dropped out of contention on Thursday, the day after Rove's piece appeared.
Rove likened Trump's picks of Hegseth for Defense Secretary and Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence to a "circus act," adding that confirmation hearings for the pair "could also be messy and full of bad press."
"His in particular could entail unpleasant surprises, given that the Trump transition team was reportedly blindsided after his nomination by the news that he had reached a settlement with a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017," Rove wrote.
"Inadequate vetting, impatience, disregard for qualifications and a thirst for revenge have created chaos and controversy for Mr. Trump before he's even in office. The price for all this will be missed opportunities to shore up popular support for the incoming president. But at least it'll make great TV," Rove concluded.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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