(OPINION) MSNBC host Rachel Maddow stated on Thursday during “Deadline” that President-elect Donald Trump is attempting to “destroy the U.S. government” through his cabinet appointments.
Maddow remarked, “The idea of the authoritarian promise is that everything in government shrinks except for the will of the leader. For instance, you wouldn’t expect someone like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be in charge if you’re hoping for positive outcomes from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Matt Gaetz has explicitly proposed abolishing the Justice Department; while he hasn’t specifically mentioned the FBI and the ATF, he has discussed dismantling the Justice Department.”
She continued, “The notion of Tulsi Gabbard as the Director of National Intelligence is astonishing. In a normal context, she wouldn’t even qualify for a security clearance to work at a basic level at any U.S. intelligence agency, let alone to navigate the existing security protocols. This is outrageous.
This selection indicates a desire for the worst outcomes for these agencies and a belief that the U.S. government is fundamentally worthless. It plays into a strategy of consolidating power, reducing the government to just the leader and those who will follow orders, rather than maintaining any repository of expertise or day-to-day operational knowledge.
This situation resembles what Steve Bannon described as a kind of Leninist project—to destroy the state. The cabinet nominees are not intended to effectively run the U.S. government; rather, they are chosen to dismantle it.
The goal seems to be to fundamentally reshape the U.S. government into something more akin to a unitary authoritarian or autocratic system.”
