Donald Trump has selected a former Republican congressman who lost re-election following anti-gay comments to replace the openly gay former president of the federal government’s export credit agency. Because Donald Trump:
President Donald Trump intends to nominate former Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) to head the Export-Import Bank, finding a place for a congressman who lost his re-election bid in large part because of anti-gay comments that turned off big financial donors.
In 2015, Garrett told fellow Republicans in a closed-door meeting that he wouldn’t pay his dues to the National Republican Congressional Committee because the organization supported some gay candidates, Politico reported.
Garrett has since clarified that he doesn’t oppose gay people running for office, but he believes the GOP should not support candidates who back same-sex marriage. His comments cost him support from Wall Street donors, who had been a major source of funding for his previous campaigns.
The confirmation of the agency’s outgoing president, Fred Hochberg, was hailed by gay groups when announced by President Obama in 2009. It’s not clear if Trump knew any of this beforehand because he has no clue what he’s talking about most of the time, but it does add to the profoundly anti-LGBTQ animus of this administration. Sure, your views may have been deplorable enough to get you to lose your job, but you’ll always have a home in the Trump regime.
As one trans rights activist was quoted in a recent New York Times editorial, “every twitch we’ve seen from the administration has been anti-L.G.B.T.”
Not to mention that fact that both Trump and Garrett have opposed the Export-Import Bank in the past, with then-congressman Garrett voting against authorization and calling it “corporate welfare.” Now he’s going to be heading it. This agency position requires Senate confirmation, so it’ll be interesting to see how Garrett’s unpopularity, even among Republicans, plays out.