The Trump administration plans to withdraw its nomination of a racist conspiracy theorist to the No. 3 job at the Pentagon. Just one Republican senator had announced opposition to Retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata’s nomination as undersecretary of defense for policy, and Sen. Kevin Cramer wasn’t upset about Tata’s racism and Islamophobia—he was upset about a group of sailors he feels should be added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Nonetheless, the Trump administration must have seen rough waters ahead with Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jim Inhofe sending the message: “There are many Democrats and Republicans who didn't know enough about Anthony Tata to consider him for a very significant position at this time.”
“We didn't get the required documentation in time; some documents, which we normally get before a hearing, didn't arrive until yesterday,” Inhofe continued in a statement. “As I told the President last night, we're simply out of time with the August recess coming, so it wouldn't serve any useful purpose to have a hearing at this point, and he agreed.”
The hearing apparently isn’t just delayed, though, but dropped. Good.
Tata is a racist who claimed that former President Barack Obama was a “terrorist leader” who wanted to “subvert U.S. national interests to Islam.” He also described Obama as a “Manchurian Candidate.”
His outrageous statements weren’t confined to Obama, though. Tata is also a conspiracy theorist who insisted that former CIA Director John Brennan was “a clear and present danger and a threat to this nation” who “is doing Putin's bidding every day on Twitter.” Tata even insisted that Brennan had tried to order Trump’s assassination via coded tweet.
Tata tried to save his chances at the undersecretary for policy job by apologizing, but come on. “Your record of offensive and inflammatory comments disqualifies you from serving in your current position and the position for which you have been nominated,” Senate Armed Services Committee Democrats wrote him in a letter Monday. “No one with a record of repeated, repugnant statements like yours should be nominated to serve in a senior position of public trust at the Pentagon. Your views are wholly incompatible with the U.S. military's values.”
Daily Kos helped generate opposition to Tata’s nomination with a constituent email campaign to members of the Senate committee.