The third round of listening to the candidates he has chosen to serve in top positions in his government was completed this week – and was the most interesting so far. This is because three of the most controversial candidates of their new president, with their ratification being doubtful.
Robert Kennedy Junior, a candidate for the Ministry of Health, was on Wednesday, and Ms Patel on the FBI leadership and Talsy Gabard for the leadership of national intelligence.
Robert Kennedy Junior
Robert Kennedy Junior spent three and a half hours before the Senate Committee, with the pressure being suffocating. The long listening was controversial, hectic and occasionally interrupted by protesters.
Expected, the Democrats “squeezed” Kennedy for his repeated anti -vaccine statements, with himself trying to convince him that he is not against vaccines and pharmaceuticals, while pledging to follow science as Minister of Health. However, Kennedy has repeatedly declined to recognize that children’s vaccines do not cause autism or that the Vaccines against Covid-19 have saved lives.
AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.
At the same time, it had difficulty answering questions about programs and responsibilities that fall under the Ministry of Health. On the contrary, he often returned to his slogan “Make America again healthy again”, which bases that Americans suffer from a “epidemic of chronic disease” and that he is the reformer who can solve this problem.
The Democrats of the Commission have repeatedly commented that Kennedy’s answers showed his lack of skills for office. It is not clear whether he will be able to be approved as a Minister of Health, as he can afford to lose only three Republican votes, given that all Democrats will oppose his candidacy.
Talci gambard
Talsi Gabard, Trump’s unconventional choice for the position of National Secret Service Director, disappointed both the Democrats and the Republicans in the Senate Committee – so much that her candidacy is considered the most uncertain of all. Gabard, a former MP of the Democrats, also addressed sharp questions because of her past.
Initially, she was called upon to respond to her stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine, having been accused of repeating Russian propaganda to justify Putin’s invasion. Indeed, Russian state television broadcast her comments about the “justified war” and called her “our girlfriend Talsi” – something she also mentioned during her listening.
In addition, Republicans and Democrats asked Gabard about her support for Edward Snowden, the National Security Service informant who leaked millions of secret documents, which showed that the US was carrying out illegal surveillance of their citizens. The position of the US is that the leaks threatened US national security, so the senators asked the candidate many times if he considered Snowden – who had previously called “brave” and argued that he had to be granted amnesty. She, to the embarrassment of the Republicans, refused to answer yes or no – which she might cost her.
She then encountered a storm of questions about her comments about Syria, which she had visited in 2017, to meet Bashar al -Assad. That journey had caused heavy criticism of both parties. Gampard argued that she asked Assad “harsh questions about the actions of his regime”.
She also tried to “preventive” the relevant questions, saying in her opening speech: “I have no love for Assad or Gaddafi or no dictator”, adding that “she did not cry for the fall of Assad regime” in December. “But today we have an Islamist extremist Syrian leader,” he concluded.
Mrs Patel
Ms Patel, Donald Trump’s chosen person to lead the FBI, emphasized his candidacy last Thursday, telling the senators that he was ready to face violent crime. His candidacy is controversial, as he has been fought against the FBI in the past, describing, among other things, “deep state”, and is known for his conspiracy perceptions.
However, US media believe that, after hearing, he will eventually get the green light from the Senate Committee. Interestingly, Patel separated his position by Trump, regarding the awarding of Presidential Grace to the convicts of the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021. Among those who received grace, they are also convicted of police attacks and Patel said he did not agree that he did not agree. by conversion of “any sentence of any person who brought violence against law enforcement” – without explicitly criticizing Trump’s movement.
He refused to explicitly recognize that Trump lost the 2020 presidential election and, amid repeated questions about his faith in Trump, also avoided answering directly if he would resign if he was given an unethical or unconstitutional mandate from the White House.
