Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis praised President-elect Trump for nominating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

In a lengthy social media post on Thursday, Polis praised Kennedy for helping Colorado “defeat vaccine mandates” in 2019 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“He helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA,” he wrote. 

“I hope he leans into personal choice on vaccines rather than bans (which I think are terrible, just like mandates) but what I’m most optimistic about is taking on big pharma and the corporate ag oligopoly to improve our health,” Polis said.

RFK JR. ASKS AMERICANS TO SUGGEST POLICIES FOR NEW TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: ‘TRANSITION TEAM BELONGS TO YOU’

Trump announced his nomination of RFK Jr. for HHS secretary Thursday afternoon, igniting a firestorm of praise and critique.

In his announcement, Trump promised that, with Kennedy leading the HHS, the agency would be restored as the “Gold Standard Scientific Research.”

“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump wrote. “Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”

Kennedy launched his presidential campaign as a Democrat and then eventually endorsed Trump. 

Kennedy also spoke during Trump’s historic Madison Square Garden rally last month, where he unleashed on the current state of the Democratic Party.

“The Democratic Party is the party of war. It’s the party of the CIA. You had Kamala Harris giving a speech at the Democratic convention that was written by neocons. It was belligerent, pugnacious. It talked about domination of the world by the United States through our weapons of war. It’s the party today that wants to divide Americans. It’s a party that is dismantling women’s sports by letting men play women’s sports,” he said. 

TRUMP’S PICKS SO FAR: HERE’S WHO WILL BE ADVISING THE NEW PRESIDENT

“It’s the party of Wall Street. It’s the party of Bill Gates, who just gave $50 million to Harris. It’s the party, and the Harris campaign is very proud that it received the endorsement of 50 former CIA agents and officers and of John Bolton and of Dick Cheney.”

This isn’t the first time Kennedy was considered for a Cabinet position for a presidential administration. Back in 2008, then President-elect Obama reportedly strongly considered naming Kennedy to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Politico reported at the time. 

Polis has been critical of a Trump presidency. He recently joined forces with Illinois Gov. J.B Pritzker to co-chair a new coalition called Governors Safeguarding Democracy.

The website names “fast-moving disinformation campaigns” and “cyberthreats” as examples of “threats to our democracy.”

“Donald Trump is going to bring people into his administration who are absolute loyalists to his cult of personality and not necessarily to the law,” Pritzker said, according to the New York Times. “Last time, he didn’t really know where the levers of government were. I think he probably does now. And so I think that the threat remains great.”

During an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Polis said of Trump, “we’re gonna work with him and his administration however we can for our state.” 

Polis echoed his sentiments, writing on X that he looks forward to “partnering with him to truly make America healthy again.”

“He will face strong special interest opposition on these, but I look forward to partnering with him to truly make America healthy again,” Polis added. 

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

It has been absolutely fascinating to see whom CNN is trotting out to oppose the president-elect’s new appointments, especially the (now) former Rep. Matt Gaetz to the Department of Justice or the former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to be the director of national intelligence. John Bolton, Adam Kinzinger, Andy McCabe, and Jeh Johnson are unhappy, and on CNN, talking about how each of these picks are “unqualified.”

Enough ink has been already spilled to oppose the stinking credentialism often mistaken for meritocracy and the “consensus politics” that goes on in the name of bipartisanship in the capital of this country; it is not the job of this magazine to defend those called upon to serve, as they will face their own inquisitions, and will have to come out of them bold and gracious. That said, there are some egregious accusations that deserve to be scrutinized for the sake of propriety. 

Two of them include Gabbard’s stances on Syria and Ukraine, the epitome of liberal hubris. The trotting out of Obama-era Democrats to denigrate Gabbard shows that they have not forgiven her for her cardinal sin, the heresy of opposing the prophet at the height of liberal internationalism. 

Gabbard opposed the toppling of Assad in Syria by force, going against Obama and the U.S. government’s stated policy of “Assad must go.”

Consider Gabbard’s own statement justifying her views. “Assad is not the enemy of the United States because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States,” she told The View. The congresswoman and then presidential aspirant further tweeted, “We heard attacks from warmongers in politics/media before. Those opposed to Iraq/Libya/Syria regime change wars are called ‘dicatator-lovers’ [sic] or ‘cozy’ with evil regimes. Rather than defend their position, they resort to name-calling & smears. American people wont [sic] fall for this.” 

In 2016, she wrote an op-ed arguing against U.S. interventions in the Middle East, where she correctly assessed that “to maintain order after Assad’s fall would require at least 500,000 troops in a never-ending occupation.”

“Our actions to overthrow secular dictators in Iraq and Libya, and attempts now to do the same in Syria, have resulted in tremendous loss of life, failed nations, and even worse humanitarian crises while strengthening the very terrorist organizations that have declared war on America,” Gabbard wrote. “A recent New York Times article reported that these ‘rebel groups’ supported by the United States ‘have entered into battlefield alliances with the affiliate of Al Qaeda in Syria, formerly known as Al Nusra.’ How the United States can work hand-in-hand with the very terrorist organization that is responsible for the killing of 3,000 Americans on 9/11 boggles my mind and curdles my blood.”

The idea that a secular dictator might be better than ostensible democracy infused with hardline Islamists in a region that is culturally incompatible with Madisonian democracy might be an amoral position, but it is a realist one, and is supported by evidence and international relations literature. 

On the question of NATO, opposition to Gabbard bordered on the cusp of outright libel and calumny. 

She tweeted in 2022, “This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO, which would mean US/NATO forces right on Russia’s border.” POLITICO called her “Russia-friendly” for that. 

The fact that Russia has a legitimate security interest in its near abroad, has defined redlines, and is reactive to perceived encroachment of the same, isn’t a controversial position. It is validated by research, including a book-length analysis by your humble columnist, as well as by the statements of the current CIA director, William Burns, and the former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The fact that anyone still denies that chain of causation is a sign of severe intellectual mediocrity and corrupting ideology. 

But, perhaps, the cause of liberal fear is something else. Gabbard’s appointment is also a sign that Trump is serious about reforming the intelligence apparatus of this country. Given that she’s opposed to the core theological impulse of this regime—promoting egalitarianism and sexual rights often by force across the globe as a revolutionary power—this causes paranoia among those who have sinecures in the regime’s bureaucratic apparatus. And for that, and for that alone, she deserves our support and praise.

The post Gabbard Is a Dream Come True for Foreign Policy Realists appeared first on The American Conservative.

Looks like George Washington’s mansion outside Washington, D.C., is getting a makeover. Much of the manor house at Mount Vernon is now closed and will remain so for almost a year. Once the Property Brothers have tossed their tools into the back of their pickup and Ye Olde Jacuzzi is up and running, elected officials of our own day—Washington’s heirs—should be moved to the front of the line to see the results. The more they know about the Father of Our Country, the better for all of us, right? He set a worthy example for all of our political leaders, and the good ones try to live up to it.

This renovation will be “the most complicated preservation effort since the house was saved from decay in 1860 by the private, nonprofit Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union, which still owns it,” the Washington Post reports. If action were not taken now, Douglas Bradburn, president of George Washington’s Mount Vernon says, termite damage is such that high winds “could knock it off its foundation.”

You can only imagine how a proud and sometimes crusty character like Washington would take that news. Back when he was commanding troops in the American Revolution and had left his home back in Virginia in the care of a trusted nephew, a 16-ton British frigate slipped up the Potomac River, torching plantations along the way, and paused at Mount Vernon. Interpreting this as a threat to bombard the place, the nephew boarded the ship, bearing “a small present of poultry,” followed by gifts of sheep, hogs and other goodies. This gesture of goodwill, said nephew told Washington, spared the farm from bombardment and might possibly secure the return of some 20 slaves who had fled to the frigate.

Rather than grateful, Washington was incensed. It would have been “less painful” to have heard that the nephew had thumbed his nose at that “parcel of plundering Scoundrels,” Washington said, and that “they had burnt my House and laid the Plantation in ruins.” 

Taking goodies to the British and “asking the surrender of my Negroes, was exceedingly ill-judged,” and the kind of behavior that other independence-minded Americans might copy, with dire consequences for the war effort.

This would not have imposed any great hardship on Washington, after all. Had the British leveled the mansion, he could easily have moved into the cozy townhouse he had purchased some years earlier just up the road in Alexandria. 

Here, as in so many areas, Washington set the standard. One lesson his successors in high political office have learned is the importance of having some place to rest your weary head after doing the public’s business all day when your primary place of residence is unavailable. This is true whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, to use today’s political labels. 

We are, first and foremost, Americans. Trump has Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago, and who knows what else. Bedminster? The Clintons have that place in Chappaqua, a mansion on Embassy Row in Washington, and an apartment in Little Rock. The Obamas own a place in Kalorama, which is not far from Embassy Row, and a vacation get-a-way on Martha’s Vineyard. Joe and Jill Biden own a four-acre lakeside property in Wilmington, Delaware, and a summer place at Rehoboth Beach where Joe was so often seen taking much-needed naps. 

Then there’s Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Bernie has a home in Burlington, Vermont, and a vacation place on Lake Champlain. Not so long ago, he also owned a townhouse on Capitol Hill. If, when he decided to vacate the townhouse, he converted it to “affordable housing,” we’re still waiting for his office to let us know.

The post This Old House appeared first on The American Conservative.

In last Tuesday’s election, three incumbent senators, Bob Casey (D-PA), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), lost reelection to Republican challengers. Unremarked upon was the fact that all three of these Democratic senators were first elected in 2006’s Democratic sweep of both legislative chambers, and lost in circumstances not dissimilar to those in which they won. 

In 2006, three years into the Iraq War, Democrats were able to take advantage of that disaster and the increasingly neglected American at home to take control of both the House and the Senate, the former for the first time in twelve years. Democrats picked up five seats (six including the technically independent Joe Lieberman, admittedly a hawk). Three of those victors would be defeated 18 years later after reversing their earlier foreign policy views.

In Pennsylvania, Casey was able to win a sweeping victory over incumbent Sen. Rick Santorum by campaigning against Bush’s Iraq policy and emphasizing his social conservatism and his family’s reputation as pro-life Democrats. Casey, though opposing immediate withdrawal from Iraq, demanded that the Bush administration put forward various benchmarks to wind down and end the conflict while attacking Santorum as lacking the ability and the “guts” to stand up to Bush on the war. Casey eviscerated Santorum on the campaign trail for being closely tied to Bush in foreign policy, with the line “When two politicians are agreeing 98 percent of the time, one of them isn’t necessary” becoming a common refrain in his campaign against Santorum. In his victory speech in 2006, Casey credited his landslide win to his demand for foreign policy accountability, declaring: “It’s about time that politicians in Washington are held accountable in Iraq.”

Similarly in Montana, Jon Tester ran in 2006 as a fiscal conservative critical of Bush’s Iraq policy. In the campaign against the ultra-hawkish Conrad Burns, Iraq took center-stage, with Tester asserting that the Bush administration had started the war under false pretenses, that the Republican Senate had not done enough to check claims about weapons of mass destruction, and that the war was a distraction from the actual challenges facing Montanans.

At the same time, Sherrod Brown in Ohio overcame his reputation as a progressive in the House by capitalizing on his record of foreign policy restraint in his 2006 campaign. A U.S. representative before his election to the Senate, Brown was well-known for voting against the Iraq War, the PATRIOT Act, and warrantless wiretapping. 

However, by 2024, all three Senators endorsed endless foreign entanglements while ignoring the economic needs of their constituents. Brown, Tester, and Casey all found themselves amongst the ranks of Ukraine-maximalists. The earlier combination of (at least feigned) conservatism and skepticism of foreign interventions that had defined the 2006 campaigns of Tester and Casey had been entirely abandoned in favor of social liberalism and internationalism. Casey completely reversed many of his earlier signature positions, running as the pro-choice candidate in the race and with the Pennsylvania Democrats accused his opponent of not being hawkish enough. Brown also traded in his earlier reputation as an anti-war progressive for one of hawkishness, with Brown’s office declaring in February that aid to Ukraine is necessary as a deterrent not only against Russia, but somehow also against China and Iran. 

This year, much as in 2006, various foreign entanglements (this time in Eastern Europe as well as the Middle East) have cast a shadow over the U.S. election. However, this time the roles of the parties are reversed. Democrats express near-uniform support for endless aid to Ukraine, while Republicans have become increasingly skeptical, as that conflict has dragged on as inconclusively as the Iraq War had in 2006. Democrats campaigned with Liz Cheney, while the Republican vice-presidential nominee walked onto the convention floor to an anti-Bush protest song. And as in 2006, these entanglements, paired with domestic disorder, favored the party promoting a more “America First” vision, with Republicans taking the Presidency, Senate, and retaining the House.

The now-victorious challengers to the seats of Brown and Tester, in particular, businessman Bernie Moreno and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, ran as this year’s culturally conservative realists. While viewed as more hawkish than his potential primary opponent, Matt Rosendale, Sheehy indicated that he would have voted against aid to Ukraine last Spring. Moreno likewise opposed the aid package. Incoming Pennsylvania Sen. David McCormick, by contrast, has sent mixed messages on the Ukraine issue, stating on a podcast that he would have voted against a particular aid package in February, but generally favoring a more internationalist foreign policy. However, with Donald Trump dragging him over the finish line against Casey, one can still interpret McCormick’s win as a win for realism and restraint and as a repudiation of Casey’s alignment with the internationalism of the Biden administration.

While it is somewhat trite to point out that “all politics is local,” in this case it seems necessary to posit a corollary from that saying: that politicians neglect local concerns in favor of foreign preoccupations (be they in Baghdad or Kiev) at their own peril. While it is somewhat unclear how the newly elected senators, Sheehy, Moreno, and McCormick, will govern, it would be wise for them to avoid making the same mistakes as their predecessors.

The post 2024 as 2006’s Mirror appeared first on The American Conservative.

The president of Argentina is the first foreign leader to meet in person with President-elect Trump since Trump’s win last week.

Javier Milei, known as “the Lion,” has gained notoriety worldwide for his pro-market policies that have slashed Argentine inflation since he took elected office last year.

He attended the America First Policy Institute’s (AFPI) gala Thursday evening at Mar-a-Lago and will stay through the CPAC Investor Summit that ends Saturday.

ARGENTINA’S MILEI BLASTS UN OVER SUPPORT FOR COVID LOCKDOWNS, APPEASING ‘BLOODY DICTATORSHIPS’

President-elect Trump and President Milei met earlier Thursday, and the encounter “went well,” according to an anonymous source via The Associated Press.

He posted to social media site X, sharing his plans with President-elect Trump for the week ahead, claiming he will be the only other president in attendance at the summit.

As Milei was ushered out the door to the AFPI gala Thursday, he told the Argentine outlet Clarion, “We’re going to plant the ideas of freedom high.”

During his address at the gala, Milei congratulated Trump on his resounding win through an interpreter, saying “this has been the greatest political comeback in history, defying the entire political establishment, even at the risk of his own life.”

He also thanked Elon Musk for his role boosting his social media site X for President-elect Trump and communication worldwide.

ARGENTINA’S MILEI SHUTS UP CRITICS WITH MIRACLE TURNAROUND OF ECONOMY, STRONG SECURITY POLICIES

“There is a silent or rather silent majority that has begun to make itself heard despite the enemies of freedom clinging to power through propaganda, distortion and censorship,” said Milei. “And this is why I would especially like to thank the great Elon Musk for the wonderful job he has been doing to save humanity in communication around the world.”
 

The Argentine president then claimed that what happened in the U.S. elections last week is similar to his own election last year, with the “party of freedom” taking a victory lap.

Milei is considered to be a Trump-like figure in South America, marketing black hats similar to red MAGA hats for fans labeled “las Fuerzas del Cielo” or “the Forces from Heaven.” He also famously wielded a chainsaw at a political rally, vowing to slash wasteful government spending.

“I am exhilarated to be able to share with a new United States administration that same love for freedom. And I’m convinced that together we will restore it to the place it deserves,” Milei said in his remarks.

President-elect Trump took the stage after Milei’s speech, thanking the Argentine president for his congratulations and commending his leadership.

“And, Javier, I’d like to congratulate you on the job you’ve done for Argentina,” said Trump. “Your speech was beautiful, but the job you’ve done is incredible. Make Argentina great again. You know MAGA. He’s a MAGA person. And you know he’s doing that. He’s actually. He’s actually doing that.

“You know, I’d say you’ve done a fantastic job in a very short period of time. It’s an honor to have you here.”

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The office of Argentine President Javier Milei did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

President-elect Donald Trump named his personal criminal defense attorney Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general.

“I am pleased to announce that Todd Blanche will serve as Deputy Attorney General in my Administration. Todd is an excellent attorney who will be a crucial leader in the Justice Department, fixing what has been a broken System of Justice for far too long,” Trump announced in a news release Thursday evening.

“Todd is going to do a great job as we, Make America Great Again,” he wrote.

Blanche represented Trump during his Manhattan criminal case earlier this year, becoming a focal point of Trump’s daily press conferences, as he stood behind the 45th president while he railed against the case to the media.  

‘EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES’: NY JUDGE IN TRUMP CASE PAUSES ALL COURT DEADLINES, SENTENCING

Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records following his Manhattan criminal trial in May. Trump pleaded not guilty in the case, repeatedly calling it a “sham” and “scam” and “witch hunt” launched by Democrats to injure his re-election chances ahead of Nov. 5. 

The Manhattan judge overseeing the case, Juan Merchan, agreed to grant a stay on all deadlines associated with the felony conviction proceedings against Trump earlier this week. The decision follows the Supreme Court ruled in July that former presidents have substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office, but not for unofficial acts.

Amid Trump’s lengthy court trial, which stretched from mid-April until the end of May, Blanche defended Trump both in the courtroom and to the public during press conferences. 

“President Trump is innocent. President Trump did not commit any crimes. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office should never have brought this case,” Blanche said in his opening remarks during the trial. 

CHINESE HACKERS ATTEMPTED TO BREACH TRUMP AND HARRIS CAMPAIGNS’ CELLPHONE DATA

Deputy attorney general is the second-most powerful position in the Department of Justice, and entails overseeing the department’s day-to-day dealings. Trump announced Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as his attorney general pick, which sent shockwaves among Democrats and some Republicans in Washington, D.C.

NOBODY HAS EVER SEEN A CASE LIKE THIS BEFORE: TODD BLANCHE

“Gaetz has been Trump’s chief defender when it comes to Trump’s assault on democracy. His attempt to overthrow the government on January 6th. And he has openly called for the abolition of law enforcement agencies if they don’t get in line with conservative political priorities,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said of the choice. 

Gaetz said it would be an “honor” to serve in the Trump administration earlier this week, and celebrated Trump’s pick of Blanche as deputy on Thursday. 

TRUMP’S ‘MODERN DAY SALEM WITCH TRIAL’ VERDICT SIGNALS ‘OPEN SEASON’ ON FORMER PRESIDENTS: EXPERTS

“We are building an incredible team at the Department of Justice in the Trump/Vance Administration! Todd Blanche and Emil Bove are brilliant litigators and top-tier legal minds. We can’t wait to get to work for the American People,” Gaetz posted to X. 

Last week, following Trump’s massive win over Vice President Kamala Harris, reports spread that the FBI reportedly notified Blanche that Chinese hackers breached his phone and procured voice recordings and texts, Fox News Digital previously reported. Chinese hackers had reportedly targeted Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance and individuals connected to Harris’ campaign.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

President-elect Trump teased a “big” announcement Thursday night, sharing that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will lead the Department of the Interior.

“He’s going to be announced [Friday]…I look forward to doing the formal announcement, although this is a pretty big announcement right now, actually,” Trump said during his speech at the Americans For Prosperity Gala at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday. “He’s going to head the Department of Interior, and he’s going to be fantastic.”

“We’re going to reduce regulation waste, fraud and inefficiency,” Trump said. “We’re going to clean out the corrupt, broken and failing bureaucracies. And we’re going to stop child sexual mutilation. We’re going to stop it because it’s time.”

TRUMP’S PICKS SO FAR: HERE’S WHO WILL BE ADVISING THE NEW PRESIDENT

Burgum, a multi-millionaire former software company CEO turned two-term governor, launched a White House bid in June 2023. 

Bergum made energy and natural resources a key part of his campaign for the GOP nomination.

After making the stage at the first two GOP presidential debates, Burgum failed to qualify for the third showdown, in autumn of last year, and he dropped out of the White House race last December. A month later, he appeared in Iowa with Trump and endorsed the former president for the GOP nomination, days ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Burgum became a high profile surrogate for the former president, appearing on the campaign trail and in media hits on Trump’s behalf.

He was in consideration as Trump’s running mate this past summer before Sen. JD Vance of Ohio was picked as the Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee.

WATCH:

Burgum, in an interview with “Fox and Friends” last week, said Trump’s election victory was “game changing” and that “we’ve got a new sheriff in town.” 

The governor added that a Trump victory also “means that America is going to be dominant in energy.”

“America is going to be dominant in energy which is key to all the diplomacy we do all over the world,” he said.

Some lawmakers and public health leaders decried the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for health secretary by President-elect Trump. 

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., called the choice “f—— insane.”

“The RFK as Health Secretary appointment is f—— insane,” he wrote on X. “He’s a vaccine denier and a tin foil hat conspiracy theorist. He will destroy our public health infrastructure and our vaccine distribution systems. This is going to cost lives.”

Garcia’s office was not immediately available for comment. 

RFK JR. CALLS FOR REMOVAL OF FLUORIDE FROM DRINKING WATER, SPARKING DEBATE

In a statement posted on social media, Kennedy said he plans to tackle a range of issues should he be confirmed by the Senate to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

“Together we will clean up corruption, stop the revolving door between industry and government, and return our health agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science. I will provide Americans with transparency and access to all the data so they can make informed choices for themselves and their families,” he wrote. 

Kennedy rose to prominence as a skeptic of vaccines, while voicing concerns about their impact.

Madhukar Pai, chair of McGill University’s Global and Public Health Department in Montreal, Canada, said Kennedy’s appointment could be the “biggest setback to global vaccination programs since Andrew Wakefield,” referring to the British scientist who published research linking vaccines to autism that was later retracted.

TRUMP HHS COULD REVERSE BIDEN-HARRIS POLICIES ON GENDER TREATMENTS FOR MINORS

Garcia, the former mayor of Long Beach who served on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, previously described Kennedy as a threat to public health during a hearing. 

“The fact that we’re considering to bring somebody on with no scientific or medical credentials, who’s falsely claimed for decades that vaccines cause autism, who has, quite frankly, said just outrageous comments about science and medicine, that this person would come in to gut the NIH (National Institutes of Health), I think is shameful,” he said. 

“We should be very concerned as a country that RFK Jr. could be put in charge of health when he is a vaccine denier and has caused great harm to the American public.” 

Donna Shalala, the longest serving HHS secretary, called Kennedy’s nomination “shocking.”

RFK JR. ASKS AMERICANS TO SUGGEST POLICIES FOR NEW TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: ‘TRANSITION TEAM BELONGS TO YOU’

“Kennedy is an unqualified, know-nothing. He is dangerous to the health and well-being of every American,” she said. 

Despite the pushback, Kennedy has supporters. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, urged Kennedy to make changes at HHS and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican, noted that Kennedy has championed issues like healthy foods and greater transparency in public health infrastructure.

“I look forward to learning more about his other policy positions and how they will support a conservative, pro-American agenda,” Cassidy wrote on X. 

Kennedy was previously considered for a Cabinet position in 2008, when President-elect Barack Obama reportedly considered naming him to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

President-elect Trump teased a “big” announcement, sharing that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will lead the Department of the Interior.

“He’s going to be announced tomorrow…I look forward to doing the formal announcement, although this is a pretty big announcement right now, actually,” Trump said during his speech at the Americans For Prosperity Gala at Mar-A-Lago on Thursday. “He’s going to head the Department of Interior, and he’s going to be fantastic.”

“We’re going to reduce regulation waste, fraud and inefficiency,” Trump said. “We’re going to clean out the corrupt, broken and failing bureaucracies. And we’re going to stop child sexual mutilation. We’re going to stop it because it’s time.”

President-elect Donald Trump named his personal criminal defense attorney Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general.

“I am pleased to announce that Todd Blanche will serve as Deputy Attorney General in my Administration. Todd is an excellent attorney who will be a crucial leader in the Justice Department, fixing what has been a broken System of Justice for far too long,” Trump announced in a news release Thursday evening.

“Todd is going to do a great job as we, Make America Great Again,” he wrote.

Blanche represented Trump during his Manhattan criminal case earlier this year, becoming a focal point of Trump’s daily press conferences, as he stood behind the 45th president while he railed against the case to the media.  

‘EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES’: NY JUDGE IN TRUMP CASE PAUSES ALL COURT DEADLINES, SENTENCING

Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records following his Manhattan criminal trial in May. Trump pleaded not guilty in the case, repeatedly calling it a “sham” and “scam” and “witch hunt” launched by Democrats to injure his re-election chances ahead of Nov. 5. 

The Manhattan judge overseeing the case, Juan Merchan, agreed to grant a stay on all deadlines associated with the felony conviction proceedings against Trump earlier this week. The decision follows the Supreme Court ruled in July that former presidents have substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office, but not for unofficial acts.

Amid Trump’s lengthy court trial, which stretched from mid-April until the end of May, Blanche defended Trump both in the courtroom and to the public during press conferences. 

“President Trump is innocent. President Trump did not commit any crimes. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office should never have brought this case,” Blanche said in his opening remarks during the trial. 

CHINESE HACKERS ATTEMPTED TO BREACH TRUMP AND HARRIS CAMPAIGNS’ CELLPHONE DATA

Deputy attorney general is the second-most powerful position in the Department of Justice, and entails overseeing the department’s day-to-day dealings. Trump announced Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as his attorney general pick, which sent shockwaves among Democrats and some Republicans in Washington, D.C.

NOBODY HAS EVER SEEN A CASE LIKE THIS BEFORE: TODD BLANCHE

“Gaetz has been Trump’s chief defender when it comes to Trump’s assault on democracy. His attempt to overthrow the government on January 6th. And he has openly called for the abolition of law enforcement agencies if they don’t get in line with conservative political priorities,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said of the choice. 

Gaetz said it would be an “honor” to serve in the Trump administration earlier this week, and celebrated Trump’s pick of Blanche as deputy on Thursday. 

TRUMP’S ‘MODERN DAY SALEM WITCH TRIAL’ VERDICT SIGNALS ‘OPEN SEASON’ ON FORMER PRESIDENTS: EXPERTS

“We are building an incredible team at the Department of Justice in the Trump/Vance Administration! Todd Blanche and Emil Bove are brilliant litigators and top-tier legal minds. We can’t wait to get to work for the American People,” Gaetz posted to X. 

Last week, following Trump’s massive win over Vice President Kamala Harris, reports spread that the FBI reportedly notified Blanche that Chinese hackers breached his phone and procured voice recordings and texts, Fox News Digital previously reported. Chinese hackers had reportedly targeted Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance and individuals connected to Harris’ campaign.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.