The sudden withdrawal of former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s embattled pick for attorney general, amid opposition from Senate Republicans marks the first major setback for Trump as he fills his Cabinet —but other high-profile nominees also appear to be facing mounting opposition from members of his own party.
In a recent episode of her SiriusXM radio show, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, skewered Tulsi Gabbard, the president-elect’s selection for director of national intelligence, and his choice for health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — blasting both nominees for their foreign policy ideologies.
Speaking about Gabbard, Haley said she had “major issues” with her candidacy and reiterated comments Gabbard has made in the past that run counter to the views of the U.S. intelligence community, including blaming NATO for the invasion of Ukraine and her decision to meet with Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in 2017.
“She has defended Russia, she has defended Syria, she has defended Iran, and she has defended China,” Haley said.
“DNI has to analyze real threats. Are we comfortable with someone like that at the top of our national intelligence agencies?”
In presenting her argument, Haley also emphasized various occasions in which Gabbard — a former Democratic congresswoman who ran for the party’s presidential nomination in 2020 before becoming a Republican — has directly clashed with the president-elect.