Had an interesting online chat with a good friend from years ago. We both worked at Farmland Industries back in the eighties through much of the nineties. He voted for Trump. He is aghast at his choice of Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. To a lesser extent Trump’s choice of Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary. He can’t understand how Trump is willing to go “all in” to push both men to be affirmed. With both have extraordinary baggage in their backgrounds – let alone their qualifications.

I had to apologize to him. I sent several of my avatar’s showing my astonishment, my laughter, and yes – apologetically – my ridicule and disdain towards his sentiment about all of this.

My comment back to him is “What the hell did you expect?” For years he has telegraphed exactly how he feels about women. Through his adulterous actions through three marriages, his infamous “locker room” tape on ET where he said the below:

“I moved on her actually. You know she was down on Palm Beach. I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it. I did try and fuck her, she was married.”
“No, no, Nancy. I moved on her very heavily, in fact I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture. I moved on her like a bitch. I couldn’t get there, and she was married. Then all-of-a-sudden I see her; she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look.”

“Yeah that’s her with the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful… I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.”

“Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

And then later under sworn testimony in the civil sexual assault trial (where he was found guilty) when asked if he believed his statements that rich and powerful men can do anything they like to women because “women let them” he doubled down and said “Yes, it has been that way for millions of years.”

Or his numerous adulterous affairs where he kept the women whom he had affairs with from talking by paying them off and having them sign NDAs (think porn actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, and there are others).

So why would my friend be surprised? Both Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth have taken pages directly out of Trump’s personal playbook. Pay to have sex with women? Use your fame, use your money, use your power to get women? Do want you will to women? Then pay them off, sign NDAs, escape being accused of sexual assault?

Of course, Trump believes these two men have DONE NO WRONG. Because in Donald Trump’s unethical, immoral viewpoint they have DONE NO WRONG. So, absolutely he will double down in his defense of HIS nominations of them. Because another point I made to my friend, Donald J. Trump never believes that he has ever done anything wrong, never.