Sarah Matthews, a former spokesperson for President-elect Trump, said his recent Cabinet picks stem from him being “drunk on power.”
In an MSNBC appearance Friday afternoon, Matthews said that the narrative of Trump playing “4D chess” by making distracting nominations is “hilarious.”
“That’s not what’s happening. He knows that he is drunk on power right now because he feels like he was given a mandate by winning the popular vote,” she said. “He has control of both chambers of Congress, and he doesn’t have to worry about running for reelection.”
Matthews also said Trump does not want to “please the establishment,” and his choice to nominate now-former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) does exactly that.
“He wants someone who’s going to be a loyalist and who’s going to do his bidding at the Department of Justice,” she said. “He doesn’t want an independent DOJ.”
Other controversial Cabinet appointments include Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth as defense secretary and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has said that the picks face difficult paths to confirmation in the Senate, warning that “none of this is gonna be easy.”
Leading up to the election, Matthews criticized Trump and backed Vice President Harris in her bid for the White House, joining her fellow ex-Trump White House officials Alyssa Farah Griffin and Cassidy Hutchinson in their efforts.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
