President Elect’s decision to appoint alt-right head Steve Bannon as his chief strategist has been met with a great deal of outrage. Many people have pointed out the blatantly sexist and racist things Bannon has said in the past, and most of the public is baffled by Trump’s choice. A particularly concerning quote is Bannon’s statement in 2013 where he said, “I’m a Leninist. Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal too. I want to bring everything crashing down.” Sadly, it seems like Bannon’s most controversial quote is a prediction of what the Trump administration will be like.
On the surface, Trump’s capitalist obsession with amassing wealth at the expense of the common citizen does not appear to have much in common with Lenin’s desire for communism. However, it is very telling that he appointed a chief strategist who desires to destroy everything the American government has worked to protect. It seems that Bannon’s desire is shared by many of the people Trump has appointed as cabinet members.
Throughout his campaign, Trump dismissed criticisms about his lack of government experience by claiming that he would hire the best people in their fields to do government work. As his cabinet appointees become public, it becomes clear that this is not the case. Instead, the people appointed all seem to be hand chosen to accomplish Bannon’s goal of destroying the state.
For example, Trump has appointed Scott Pruitt as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt denies that climate change exists and has extremely concerning ties to fossil fuel corporations. Andy Puzder was appointed as the head of the Department of Labor, yet he is a CEO of fast food companies that have regularly violated worker safety regulations and has lobbied in the past for ending minimum wages. The Department of Education leader appointed by Trump, Betsy DeVos, advocates for a school voucher program that would outsource public school education to private companies. The Secretary for the Department of Energy position was given to Rick Perry, who claimed in 2011 that it was a complete needless agency that he would eliminate if elected as president.
These appointments are almost too astounding to be believed. It seems like Trump is specifically picking people who would be bad at their jobs. The appointees all have a history of trying to circumvent or get rid of federal laws designed to protect the common people from corporations. Only time will tell, but four years of allowing them to be in charge could easily “bring everything crashing down,” just like Bannon wants.