Illustration: Brianna Navarre | Source: Brandon Bell, John Lamparski, Leigh Vogel, Anna Moneymaker via Getty
Donald Trump loves to mock “losers” – but he also loves to reward them. That’s the big takeaway from the list of literal losers that Trump has chosen for key positions in his Cabinet and White House.
Consider how many of his nominees ran for political office – often with Trump’s vocal support – but were roundly rejected by voters. Trump has bestowed on these losers the ultimate participation trophies: plum positions in his new administration.
Many of these folks knew their political futures were limited – if not over. Now that Trump has rescued them from obscurity and irrelevance, they owe him bigtime – and will deliver what he wants most: fealty to all things Trump.
Let’s start with multitime loser Kari Lake, a MAGA mouthpiece and former local TV anchor in Phoenix, whom Trump picked to lead the Voice of America, the U.S. government-funded international broadcaster. Lake has shown a unique version of submissive loyalty to Trump over the years – from literally vacuuming the red carpet Trump was about to walk on to telling an audience that Trump has “BDE,” a profane slang abbreviation for someone who has the “big energy” of a man with … ahem, big genitalia. Trump endorsed Lake when she ran for Arizona governor – and lost – in 2022. She also lost a court challenge disputing her defeat at the polls. Trump endorsed her again when she ran for U.S. Senate – and she lost again this year. But don’t cry for her, Arizona: Lake won the Loser Olympics by sucking up to Trump enough to lock up a job in his incoming administration.
Then we have Dr. Mehmet Oz, the former TV doctor and highly controversial peddler of questionable medical advice, whom Trump endorsed in the 2022 race for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. Oz........