President Trump does so many stupid things so rapidly that it’s often easy to overlook some of his worst moves because they are so quickly superseded by the next atrocity in the ever-churning 24-hour news cycle.
When the abrogation of political norms becomes so commonplace that some incidents don’t register on one’s psyche long enough to generate the proper amount of outrage, it’s easy to forget things that Trump has done that would have been major scandals in an administration not as bursting at the seams with disastrous decisions as this president’s.
Take, for instance, the nomination of a former Fox & Friends news host with no diplomatic experience whatsoever as the replacement for former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to become the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
If you had even heard about this risible appointment, you likely took it as a joke made by a late night talk show host rather than the deadly serious nomination that President Trump intended it to be.
The nomination of Heather Nauert — a woman lacking the least bit of qualification for the enormous job of maintaining America’s leading role in the world’s most important international forum — to the ambassadorship position telegraphed President Trump’s disdain for the United Nations and its mission and was viewed as a major insult to the UN and its member nations.
Those readers who may have missed the news of the appointment can now rest easy without the need to get a belated case of agita over it with the announcement today that Nauert is withdrawing her name from consideration for the post, according to CNN.
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“I am grateful to President Trump and Secretary Pompeo for the trust they placed in me for considering me for the position of US Ambassador to the United Nations. However, the past two months have been grueling for my family and therefore it is in the best interest of my family that I withdraw my name from consideration. Serving in the Administration for the past two years has been one of the highest honors of my life and I will always be grateful to the President, the Secretary, and my colleagues at the State Department for their support,” Nauert said in a statement issued by the State Department where she is currently a spokesperson.
While President Trump had announced the former Fox News talking head as his pick to lead the American delegation at the UN, her nomination had yet to be sent to the Senate for confirmation.
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That fact — added to the sudden withdrawal by Nauert with a “family” interests excuse — is leading to suspicions that the reaction to Trump’s choice was not well received by the Republican leaders in the Senate who would need to confirm her for the job and that her removing her name from consideration was a face-saving move in the face of a doomed nomination that would present the president with another embarrassing defeat on the heels of his massive loss over the funding for his much-lusted-after border wall.
The State Department indicated that Trump would be announcing a replacement nominee for the role shortly. There is no word at this point about the availability or interest of Sean Hannity for the job, in case you were wondering.
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Original reporting by Ryan Browne and Michelle Kosinski at CNN.
