The failed reality TV show host announced that Kevin McAleenan was taking over DHS, which led me to assume that McAleenan was stupid AND awful.
But, so far as I can tell, that isn’t true. Which is… weird.
For example, from WaPo:
McAleenan is a lawyer with degrees from the University of Chicago and Amherst College who pores over academic reports on migration trends and speaks of international aid as being vitally important to stemming the northward flow of Central Americans. And perhaps most important, at a time of great policy upheaval, McAleenan will be a rare Trump administration official who remains in good standing with lawmakers from both parties, someone who knows that the nation’s immigration quandary has spanned a generation of Republicans and Democrats and has no easy fixes.
and this:
“When I look back on my lengthy career, I can count on one hand the number of people whose intelligence, honesty and intellect I have the utmost respect and admiration for, and Kevin is one of them,” Gil Kerlikowske, who served as CBP commissioner during President Barack Obama’s second term, when McAleenan was his deputy, said Sunday evening. “I’m glad he’ll be there as acting secretary, but he’ll be in an incredibly difficult position, and I don’t envy him at all.”
CNN has similar info
McAleenan is a career official who previously served as the deputy commissioner during President Barack Obama's administration.
and
McAleenan also has shared some of Nielsen's frustrations with Trump over his demands from the department, two US officials familiar with his thinking said. He's also viewed warily by some of the White House immigration hardliners, led by Miller, who has Trump's ear on the issues he views as key to his re-election prospects.
Trump didn’t have to pick this guy — he isn’t next in line. Did he just see the haircut and build and think he looked the part, so it was all good? Is this a decision that he will soon overturn? Or am I missing something and is this guy really awful?