A Republican senator clashed with NBC anchor Kristen Welker during an interview Sunday. He was pushing back against harsh criticism of President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet nominations, compared to President Biden's more controversial handling of personnel appointments.
Democrats in Congress and the media have sharply criticized the quality of President Trump's Cabinet nominees, including his selection of retired military veteran Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem becomes Secretary of Homeland Security. Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) becomes attorney general. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS);
On NBC's “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Mr. Welker told Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma that Mr. Kennedy's skepticism about vaccines will seal Mr. Trump's nomination for HHS secretary. He asked if there was a possibility that it would “obstruct a deal” at the top.
Marin denied this was a deal breaker for him and did not express similar anger at some controversial cabinet members and personnel changes at the start of President Biden's term. He began criticizing the Democratic Party and liberal voices in the media.
Biden's personnel decisions are once again in the spotlight as Democrats rage against “unqualified” Trump nominees
“No. I absolutely — I appreciate that Bobby Kennedy is taking the vaccine seriously. There are some questions. And I appreciate the scrutiny that's going on there. “I think Bobby can answer all of those things, and I sat down and had a long conversation with him, and I actually think he's a very smart guy when it comes to this,” he said. “And some of the content raises a lot of questions. But I have a question for you: Democrats spend so much time talking about the scrutiny of President Trump's election, but also Would we have spent this much time scrutinizing Biden's selection regardless?'' ”
“I mean, we can talk about Rachel. [Levine]Assistant Secretary of HHS. I think whatever pronouns he or she uses, it's a pretty controversial choice,” Mullin continued.
Mullin also expressed concern about former Energy Department official Sam Brinton, who is “non-binary” under the Biden administration. Sam Brinton was charged with stealing luggage from the airport on three separate occasions and was spared jail.
Former Biden official in trouble after being accused of multiple airport thefts to be exempted by 2023
President Biden has faced Republican criticism over some of his administration's hiring decisions. (Getty Images)
“We didn't see the scrutiny that Democrats did on these individual nominations. There were a lot of nominations. I mean, you can talk about Pete Buttigieg. He's really qualified to be Secretary of Transportation. Is there?” Marin added.
When Mullin scolded Democrats and the media for their messages surrounding Trump's election, Welker tried to intervene.
“Senator–wait, let's stay here–” Welker began.
“I don't think there's the same level of oversight,” Mullin continued.
“We have thoroughly vetted all of these candidates,” Mr. Welker retorted, before returning to the question about Mr. Kennedy.
Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services; (Caroline Breman Pool/Getty Images)
Rachel Levine, Biden's nominee for assistant secretary of health, became the first openly transgender federal employee to be confirmed by the Senate. Mr. Levine faced criticism from Republicans on a variety of issues, including: sex change surgery It was written for minors and was labeled “America's number one gender extremist” by an editorial in the New York Post.
Biden administration Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was appointed to the top Cabinet position after eight years as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, but at the time there were questions about whether he had enough relevant experience for the job. There were voices too. Since the Republican Party took office, amplified those concerns After a series of perceived missteps by Mr. Buttigieg, including the aftermath of a supply chain crisis and a catastrophic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
FOX News' Andrew Mark Miller and Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.
Click to get the FOX News app
