President-elect Donald Trump is looking to stock his incoming Cabinet with stars from his favorite television network, Fox News.
Trump’s selection of former Fox News contributor (and MSNBC alum) Monica Crowley — who reportedly spread the conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama was secretly Muslim — as chief of protocol at the State Department brings the total number of prospective former Fox News employees in his administration to 12, according to a tally by left-leaning media accountability group Media Matters. (The outlet also notes that several other frequent Fox News guests are slated to serve in high-ranking positions.)
The White House could soon become a Fox den (see what I did there?) — just as it was the first time Trump was president.
Trump — cable news–obsessed septuagenarian that he is — could become an even greater hero to like-minded armchair curmudgeons in just a few months, going from yelling at the Fox News talent on his television to barking orders at them face to face.
On Wednesday’s episode of “The ReidOut with Joy Reid,” former NBC executive John Miller, who helped market Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice,” gave some insight into Trump’s decision-making on that show that could apply to his Cabinet picks, as well. In picking winners on the show, Miller said, Trump prioritized several things above competence, including “loyalty,” how much a person praised him, how public that praise was and how someone looked physically doing the job. Miller said “actual ability to do the job based on credentials or experience does not seem to be important” to Trump and is last on his list of qualifications. There’s no reason to believe the batch of former Fox News talent Trump has selected to work in his administration are being judged on anything other than how well they follow his orders — and how good they look on TV doing it.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. Recommended
