who knew
USA TODAY Opinion
Opinion
I didn't think Trump would do the unhinged things he said he'd do. What the heck? | Opinion
Rex Huppke, USA TODAY
Mon, November 18, 2024 at 5:11 AM EST·4 min read
886
California Gov. Gavin Newsom preparing to "Trump-proof" his stateScroll back up to restore default view.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a minute. President-elect Donald Trump has started appointing screwballs for important government positions, making plans for immigrant detention camps and leaning, authoritarian-style, on Republicans in Congress to obliterate check and balances?
Are you telling me the man who said he was going to do all these crazy things is actually going to do all these crazy things? What the heck?
I was told by many Trump supporters that he’s a showman who talks tough, but when he gets into office again he’ll govern like a sensible conservative, just like he didn’t do the first time around.
I am shocked to see Trump do exactly what he told people he'd do
And now I find the next president is, in fact, going to let a certifiable nutball like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild” on American health and medicine? I mean, when Trump said he was going to let Kennedy “go wild” on American health and medicine, I assumed he was kidding around. And besides, I was mad that eggs are expensive.
But now it looks like vaccines are going to become optional and Americans will be told the best way to protect against infectious diseases is to put a clove of garlic in your ear and avoid processed foods.
Opinion: Republicans should let Trump use recess appointments. They asked for this.
I am shocked - shocked, I tell you! - that a presidential candidate who spoke in run-on sentences that sounded like they were written by a dumb version of Jack Kerouac on a Benzedrine bender might have actually been telling the truth about his intentions.
Trump is letting Elon Musk run the country, because of course he is
Trump has appointed unelected billionaire weirdo Elon Musk to a fake department he claims will slash-and-burn the federal government in the name of imagined efficiency. And since nobody on Trump’s transition team apparently knows what “efficiency” means, Musk can’t do it alone, so Trump paired him with another wealthy weirdo, Vivek Ramaswamy, who talks like he should be selling Veg-O-Matics on late-night TV infomercials.
Elon Musk joins former President Donald Trump on stage as Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on October 5, 2024.
Elon Musk joins former President Donald Trump on stage as Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on October 5, 2024.
I mean, just because Trump has spoken highly of Ramaswamy and had Musk more-or-less by his side since before the election, saying he would put Musk in charge of government efficiency, I never expected that…ohhhh, OK, this is starting to make sense now.
So I guess when Trump said he'd do lots of crazy stuff he was being serious
Apparently Trump DID mean all the noodle-brained things he said over and over and over again during the campaign. Things that included being a dictator, but just for the first day of his administration. And rounding up millions upon millions of immigrants and stashing them in detention camps. And punishing his political enemies, and giving police officers greater immunity protection, and implementing massive tariffs and pardoning the convicted Jan. 6 attackers.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gestures as he meets with House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gestures as he meets with House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
I guess I just thought him saying those things, and the media reporting on those things, and pundits warning that Trump will definitely do the things he keeps saying he’s going to do…well, like I said, eggs were expensive, and I figured, “Nah, he’s not gonna do all that.”
Boy do I have expensive eggs on my face.
This guy’s gonna do all that and a whole lot more.
Opinion: Do you know what Trump's administration needs more of? Actual conservatives.
Anyone shocked by what Trump's doing just wasn't paying attention
But don’t worry, I won’t complain about it now. The last thing I need is Attorney General Matt Gaetz coming after me.
And besides, I’ve got to stock up on garlic cloves to keep my family safe from infectious diseases before Trump’s tariffs make garlic unaffordable. Of course that might not matter once Musk and Ramaswamy do away with the Department of the Treasury and force all of us to use cryptocurrency and go broke.
It’s strange how all the things we were explicitly told would happen are now going to happen. It really makes you think.
Or at least wish you had done so sooner.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump told voters he'd do all of this. Why is GOP surprised? | Opinion
View comments (886)
Up next
The Independent
Vivek Ramaswamy suggests Department of Education will be ‘deleted outright’ by DOGE
Graig Graziosi
Sun, November 17, 2024 at 2:44 PM EST·2 min read
273
Vivek Ramaswamy, who is co-leading Donald Trump’sDepartment of Government Efficiency alongside X CEO Elon Musk, hinted that the dynamic duo of government gutting are planning to "delete" the US Department of Education.
He told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo that he and Musk were planning to make "deep cuts" unlike any in recent history.
"Elon and I aren't in this for the credit," Ramaswamy said on Sunday. "But I think we're gonna build the consensus to make the kind of deep cuts that haven't been made for most of our history."
Bartiromo asked specifically about the Department of Education, and if Ramaswamy and Musk were planning on shutting down departments.
In response, he said: “We expect mass reductions. We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright.”
Vivek Ramaswamy hinted that he aims to shut down the Department of Education. (AFP via Getty Images)
Vivek Ramaswamy hinted that he aims to shut down the Department of Education. (AFP via Getty Images)
“We expect mass reductions in force in areas of the federal government that are bloated. We expect massive cuts among federal contractors and others who are overbilling the federal government," he continued. "So yes, we expect all of the above and I think people will be surprised by, I think, how quickly we're able to move with some of those changes given the legal backdrop."
Ramaswamy made clear in August that he wanted to dismantle the department, which was established in 1867.
“Let’s shut down the head of the snake, the Department of Education,” Ramaswamy said in August. “Take that $80 billion, put it in the hands of parents across this country.”
Ramaswamy said the move would be a part of his and Musk's push for "mass deregulation."
"So this is a historic opportunity We're not actually going to squander this," he said. "But I think part of the key is to move quickly to move effectively. I think that mass deregulation that I talked about earlier that gives us the industrial logic to then make cuts to that bureaucracy and moving quickly is our objective."
View comments (273)
Up next
HuffPost
Vivek Ramaswamy Pledges To ‘Delete’ Entire Government Agencies Alongside Elon Musk
Jazmin Tolliver
Sun, November 17, 2024 at 6:00 PM EST·2 min read
102
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been named to lead President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency alongside tech billionaire Elon Musk, promised Sunday that many government agencies will soon be “deleted.”
“Elon and I aren’t in this for the credit,” Ramaswamy said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “But I think we’re going to build the consensus to make the kind of deep cuts that haven’t been made for most of our history.”
After host Maria Bartiromo questioned whether the two plan to “close down entire agencies,” Ramaswamy said “mass reductions” will be made.
“We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright,” he said. “We expect mass reductions in force in areas of the federal government that are bloated. We expect massive cuts among federal contractors and others who are overbilling the federal government.”
Ramaswamy added, “I think people will be surprised by how quickly we’re able to move with some of those changes, given the legal backdrop the Supreme Court has given us.”
The founder of Roivant Sciences, a pharmaceutical company, who ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, told Bartiromo that he and Musk will assess the roles of America’s 4 million civil servants, claiming “there’s just too many of them.”
“We don’t need 4 million. We shouldn’t have 4 million civil servants who can’t be elected or can’t be removed from their positions. It’s anti-democratic,” he said. (Ramaswamy holds shares in BuzzFeed, HuffPost’s parent company.)
Bartiromo then asked him “which agency is the most bloated,” to which he replied, “That’s a tough competition.”
“President Trump’s talked extensively about areas like the Department of Education,” Ramaswamy added. “Obviously, those kinds of agencies shouldn’t even exist and should be returned to the states. But it’s a culture that’s pervaded the entire federal government, of hiring people who have no accountability to everyday Americans.”
Noting that it’s “not just about cutting cost,” Ramaswamy said, “Our work is done by July 4, 2026. Unlike every other government project, we don’t want this one to last. We want to go and fix the problem, dissolve and move on and set an example for how our federal government should run.”
The Department of Government Efficiency is not expected to be a government office, which would require congressional action. It is likely to only be an advisory panel.
Watch a clip from Ramaswamy’s appearance on “Sunday Morning Futures.”
ACT NOW: Support HuffPost for the next four years!
Related...
Trump Says He Will Appoint Elon Musk And Vivek Ramaswamy To A ‘DOGE’ Department
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Gives Vivek Ramaswamy A Blistering Tip On How To Be 'Cool'
Vivek Ramaswamy, Far-Right Politician And Investor, Buys 7.7% Stake In BuzzFeed
View comments (102)
Up next
NY Post
Ramaswamy pledges to 'delete' entire government agencies, make 'mass reductions' via DOGE
NY Post
Sun, November 17, 2024 at 9:38 AM EST
1
Opinion
I didn't think Trump would do the unhinged things he said he'd do. What the heck? | Opinion
Rex Huppke, USA TODAY
Mon, November 18, 2024 at 5:11 AM EST·4 min read
886
California Gov. Gavin Newsom preparing to "Trump-proof" his stateScroll back up to restore default view.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a minute. President-elect Donald Trump has started appointing screwballs for important government positions, making plans for immigrant detention camps and leaning, authoritarian-style, on Republicans in Congress to obliterate check and balances?
Are you telling me the man who said he was going to do all these crazy things is actually going to do all these crazy things? What the heck?
I was told by many Trump supporters that he’s a showman who talks tough, but when he gets into office again he’ll govern like a sensible conservative, just like he didn’t do the first time around.
I am shocked to see Trump do exactly what he told people he'd do
And now I find the next president is, in fact, going to let a certifiable nutball like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild” on American health and medicine? I mean, when Trump said he was going to let Kennedy “go wild” on American health and medicine, I assumed he was kidding around. And besides, I was mad that eggs are expensive.
But now it looks like vaccines are going to become optional and Americans will be told the best way to protect against infectious diseases is to put a clove of garlic in your ear and avoid processed foods.
Opinion: Republicans should let Trump use recess appointments. They asked for this.
I am shocked - shocked, I tell you! - that a presidential candidate who spoke in run-on sentences that sounded like they were written by a dumb version of Jack Kerouac on a Benzedrine bender might have actually been telling the truth about his intentions.
Trump is letting Elon Musk run the country, because of course he is
Trump has appointed unelected billionaire weirdo Elon Musk to a fake department he claims will slash-and-burn the federal government in the name of imagined efficiency. And since nobody on Trump’s transition team apparently knows what “efficiency” means, Musk can’t do it alone, so Trump paired him with another wealthy weirdo, Vivek Ramaswamy, who talks like he should be selling Veg-O-Matics on late-night TV infomercials.
Elon Musk joins former President Donald Trump on stage as Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on October 5, 2024.
Elon Musk joins former President Donald Trump on stage as Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on October 5, 2024.
I mean, just because Trump has spoken highly of Ramaswamy and had Musk more-or-less by his side since before the election, saying he would put Musk in charge of government efficiency, I never expected that…ohhhh, OK, this is starting to make sense now.
So I guess when Trump said he'd do lots of crazy stuff he was being serious
Apparently Trump DID mean all the noodle-brained things he said over and over and over again during the campaign. Things that included being a dictator, but just for the first day of his administration. And rounding up millions upon millions of immigrants and stashing them in detention camps. And punishing his political enemies, and giving police officers greater immunity protection, and implementing massive tariffs and pardoning the convicted Jan. 6 attackers.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gestures as he meets with House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gestures as he meets with House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
I guess I just thought him saying those things, and the media reporting on those things, and pundits warning that Trump will definitely do the things he keeps saying he’s going to do…well, like I said, eggs were expensive, and I figured, “Nah, he’s not gonna do all that.”
Boy do I have expensive eggs on my face.
This guy’s gonna do all that and a whole lot more.
Opinion: Do you know what Trump's administration needs more of? Actual conservatives.
Anyone shocked by what Trump's doing just wasn't paying attention
But don’t worry, I won’t complain about it now. The last thing I need is Attorney General Matt Gaetz coming after me.
And besides, I’ve got to stock up on garlic cloves to keep my family safe from infectious diseases before Trump’s tariffs make garlic unaffordable. Of course that might not matter once Musk and Ramaswamy do away with the Department of the Treasury and force all of us to use cryptocurrency and go broke.
It’s strange how all the things we were explicitly told would happen are now going to happen. It really makes you think.
Or at least wish you had done so sooner.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump told voters he'd do all of this. Why is GOP surprised? | Opinion
View comments (886)
Up next
The Independent
Vivek Ramaswamy suggests Department of Education will be ‘deleted outright’ by DOGE
Graig Graziosi
Sun, November 17, 2024 at 2:44 PM EST·2 min read
273
Vivek Ramaswamy, who is co-leading Donald Trump’sDepartment of Government Efficiency alongside X CEO Elon Musk, hinted that the dynamic duo of government gutting are planning to "delete" the US Department of Education.
He told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo that he and Musk were planning to make "deep cuts" unlike any in recent history.
"Elon and I aren't in this for the credit," Ramaswamy said on Sunday. "But I think we're gonna build the consensus to make the kind of deep cuts that haven't been made for most of our history."
Bartiromo asked specifically about the Department of Education, and if Ramaswamy and Musk were planning on shutting down departments.
In response, he said: “We expect mass reductions. We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright.”
Vivek Ramaswamy hinted that he aims to shut down the Department of Education. (AFP via Getty Images)
Vivek Ramaswamy hinted that he aims to shut down the Department of Education. (AFP via Getty Images)
“We expect mass reductions in force in areas of the federal government that are bloated. We expect massive cuts among federal contractors and others who are overbilling the federal government," he continued. "So yes, we expect all of the above and I think people will be surprised by, I think, how quickly we're able to move with some of those changes given the legal backdrop."
Ramaswamy made clear in August that he wanted to dismantle the department, which was established in 1867.
“Let’s shut down the head of the snake, the Department of Education,” Ramaswamy said in August. “Take that $80 billion, put it in the hands of parents across this country.”
Ramaswamy said the move would be a part of his and Musk's push for "mass deregulation."
"So this is a historic opportunity We're not actually going to squander this," he said. "But I think part of the key is to move quickly to move effectively. I think that mass deregulation that I talked about earlier that gives us the industrial logic to then make cuts to that bureaucracy and moving quickly is our objective."
View comments (273)
Up next
HuffPost
Vivek Ramaswamy Pledges To ‘Delete’ Entire Government Agencies Alongside Elon Musk
Jazmin Tolliver
Sun, November 17, 2024 at 6:00 PM EST·2 min read
102
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been named to lead President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency alongside tech billionaire Elon Musk, promised Sunday that many government agencies will soon be “deleted.”
“Elon and I aren’t in this for the credit,” Ramaswamy said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “But I think we’re going to build the consensus to make the kind of deep cuts that haven’t been made for most of our history.”
After host Maria Bartiromo questioned whether the two plan to “close down entire agencies,” Ramaswamy said “mass reductions” will be made.
“We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright,” he said. “We expect mass reductions in force in areas of the federal government that are bloated. We expect massive cuts among federal contractors and others who are overbilling the federal government.”
Ramaswamy added, “I think people will be surprised by how quickly we’re able to move with some of those changes, given the legal backdrop the Supreme Court has given us.”
The founder of Roivant Sciences, a pharmaceutical company, who ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, told Bartiromo that he and Musk will assess the roles of America’s 4 million civil servants, claiming “there’s just too many of them.”
“We don’t need 4 million. We shouldn’t have 4 million civil servants who can’t be elected or can’t be removed from their positions. It’s anti-democratic,” he said. (Ramaswamy holds shares in BuzzFeed, HuffPost’s parent company.)
Bartiromo then asked him “which agency is the most bloated,” to which he replied, “That’s a tough competition.”
“President Trump’s talked extensively about areas like the Department of Education,” Ramaswamy added. “Obviously, those kinds of agencies shouldn’t even exist and should be returned to the states. But it’s a culture that’s pervaded the entire federal government, of hiring people who have no accountability to everyday Americans.”
Noting that it’s “not just about cutting cost,” Ramaswamy said, “Our work is done by July 4, 2026. Unlike every other government project, we don’t want this one to last. We want to go and fix the problem, dissolve and move on and set an example for how our federal government should run.”
The Department of Government Efficiency is not expected to be a government office, which would require congressional action. It is likely to only be an advisory panel.
Watch a clip from Ramaswamy’s appearance on “Sunday Morning Futures.”
ACT NOW: Support HuffPost for the next four years!
Related...
Trump Says He Will Appoint Elon Musk And Vivek Ramaswamy To A ‘DOGE’ Department
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Gives Vivek Ramaswamy A Blistering Tip On How To Be 'Cool'
Vivek Ramaswamy, Far-Right Politician And Investor, Buys 7.7% Stake In BuzzFeed
View comments (102)
Up next
NY Post
Ramaswamy pledges to 'delete' entire government agencies, make 'mass reductions' via DOGE
NY Post
Sun, November 17, 2024 at 9:38 AM EST
1