Hacks, phoneys and sex pests. Why Trump’s MAGA cabinet is the new normal

You could call it a backlash, but perhaps the better term is cultural revenge. Following his resounding election victory, US President-elect Donald Trump wasted no time in showing Americans, and the world, that he was deadly serious about his plans.

Given Trump’s volatility, and his tendency towards hyperbole, post-election political commentary had immediately focused on whether he would really do the things he promised during the campaign.

Trump’s picks: Bobby Kennedy Jr for health and Elon Musk for government efficiency.Credit: Michael Howard

Is Trump serious about military-assisted mass deportations of undocumented immigrants? About the imposition of trade tariffs and deep cuts to government budgets? Will he really “drain the swamp” and end “wokeness”?

His highly publicised cabinet appointments – which have been rolling out over recent weeks like a series of jokes leading to a killer punchline – tell us that, yep, he’s for real. The United States – under the MAGAdministration – will do exactly what it promises on the tin.

A brief tour through the collection of hacks, maddies, phoneys and sex pests Trump has picked to implement his agenda must begin with his nominee for attorney-general, Matt Gaetz, who late this week withdrew his bid for the job, following a torrid week of publicity over sexual misconduct allegations.

Gaetz was the subject of a Justice Department investigation into his alleged relationship with a 17-year-old girl that might have violated federal sex-trafficking laws. The investigation was closed without charges, but meanwhile the US House of Representatives ethics committee conducted its own inquiry into his alleged misconduct.

Matt Gaetz has denied allegations of sexual misconduct in a congressional investigation.Credit: AP

US media reported that Gaetz pulled out because it looked like he wouldn’t get the votes required for his confirmation in the Senate. He was spectacularly underqualified for the job – he practised law for only about two years before he ran for Congress, handling small-time civil matters. Trump has nominated former Florida attorney-general Pam Bondi as his replacement pick.

Next, we have Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host Trump has picked as his defence secretary. He paid a financial settlement to a woman who alleged he raped her at a Republican women’s event (if it wasn’t true you couldn’t make it up) in 2017. He denies the allegation and says the sex was consensual.

Hegseth is a veteran but has no senior military or national security experience. He wants to fire some serving generals, end diversity programs in the military and get women out of combat roles. He would like to rename the Department of Defence – he thinks it should be called the Department of War.

He was also one of a number of National Guard members ordered to stand down from the inauguration ceremony of President Joe Biden for opaque reasons. He said he was banned because he has a tattoo that was considered “extremist” – it is of a Jerusalem Cross, a Christian symbol which has become a favourite among white nationalists.

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk, of course, has been appointed Trump’s efficiency tsar, although he has no experience in government and will be presiding over the same regulatory authorities that have purview over his business interests.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a vaccine “sceptic” and pathological oddball, will preside over the Health Department, with a key advisory role on health matters. A former babysitter has alleged Kennedy sexually assaulted her in 1998. He told her he didn’t remember the incident but apologised to her “for anything I ever did that made you feel uncomfortable”.

This week The Lancet published an anxious editorial noting that Kennedy “has made many misleading or false health claims and says that several departments at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ‘have to go’.”

It said Kennedy’s appointment risks weakening crucial public health institutions and further undermining public trust in science. “These are grave developments for one of the world’s scientific superpowers and can only harm US health and medicine,” it said.

Trump rejects diversity picks, so we know he is not being tokenistic with his choice for education secretary – Linda McMahon, who co-founded World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) with her husband Vince McMahon. The couple are being sued by five unnamed men who allege Linda and Vince turned a blind eye to child sexual abuse (of “ring boys” as young as 13) by a former ringside announcer for their wrestling company. McMahon says the lawsuit is “baseless” and she will defend it. Separately, her husband is accused of sexual coercion – claims he denies. When it comes to qualifications in education, McMahon has what The New York Times calls “a short resume”.

There are two threads that run through all these appointments. Firstly, almost all of them have been accused of sexual misconduct, just like their boss. Those who haven’t been accused personally, such as Musk and McMahon, are alleged to have presided over corporate cultures where sexual misconduct flourished. Far from being a liability, allegations of sexual assault seem of a piece with the central message of Trump’s campaign: the boys are back in charge now.

The second thread is the utter lack of relevant experience among Trump’s picks. This deficiency is not a disqualification – on the contrary, it is a qualification for the job, which is to disrupt institutions and shun any notion of mutually agreed values. Tie these two threads together, and you have a revenge module that has been mandated by the 75 million Americans who voted for Trump.

As Musk posted on X following the selection of Gaetz for attorney-general: “the Hammer of Justice is coming”. Justice is not supposed to be a hammer. It is conventionally represented by a set of scales and a sword, held by a blindfolded Lady Justice.

But she is a woman, and the scales – well, there is less concern with balance now than rebalancing, a settling of scores that will begin with mass deportations (promised to commence on day one of Trump’s presidency) and will end in places unknown.

Jacqueline Maley is a senior writer and columnist.

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