Republicans may be waiting for Trump appointee to 'implode': Defense expert
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has softened her objections to some of President-elect Donald Trump's appointees, and one international affairs expert thinks he knows why.
Retired U.S. Naval War College professor Tom Nichols told MSNBC that Ernst may simply be waiting for Defense secretary appointee Pete Hegseth to "implode" so she can take over his job.
MSNBC's Katy Tur couldn't understand why Hegseth refused to say being an alcoholic was disqualifying for his position, or even say that accusations against him were false.
READ ALSO: 'Big misogynist': Female Dem senators give scathing early assessment of Pete Hegseth
"I suspect because he was worried about walking into a trap where he says this kind of behavior is completely disqualifying, and then someone accuses him of it, or there's another revelation, or some other senior Republican has a similar accusation," said Nichols.
Tur then noted that plenty of people are far more qualified and share Trump's vision of defense. Thus, the likely confirmation of Hegseth and others like him is baffling. But Nichols said it's likely all a set-up.
"I thought of this when I was watching Joni Ernst. I wonder — it always seems that in the Republican Party — there are people waiting for someone else to do the thing that needs to be done. And maybe Ernst was just saying, I'm not going to lead this charge," Nichols said.
He anticipates that Ernst thinks she's "likely to be the replacement if and when [Hegseth] implodes or is fired early."
That may well be the line of thinking for most of Trump's appointees, he pondered.
"I think you saw what you saw — a lot of Republicans basically saying, this isn't going to be our problem now," said Nichols.
He said that back in his day, a senator wouldn't want their name or vote associated with someone who was a disaster. That has given way to "nothing matters."
"Give Trump the people he wants," concluded Nichols. "Let them implode. Which — it makes sense from a political point of view, from the point of view of your personal survival in politics. It's really a terrible thing to take that approach and put the country at risk."
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