President-elect Donald Trump, who has repeatedly and infamously been accused of sexual assault and misconduct, is now filling his Cabinet with multiple men who have allegedly committed the same type of violence.
At least four of Trump’s announced nominations for his administration have been accused of sexual misconduct ranging from sexual harassment to assault and rape. Trump himself has been accused by two dozen women of sexual assault and rape, and just last year a federal jury found him liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s.
His rampant misogyny and disregard for women’s humanity has been a signature of his political career. The entire country heard him endorse sexual assault on the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape leaked ahead of the 2016 election. Even his attempts to appease female voters over much of his anti-woman rhetoric is laughably sexist. Five days before the 2024 election, he pledged to “protect the women of our country … whether the women like it or not.” His unabashed sexism has worked as a dog whistle to many of his most ardent supporters, including several of those arrested for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 who HuffPost found had a history of violence against women.
“When we elect a president, we expect that president to provide security to women,” Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), vice chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, told HuffPost. “When he appoints men who have been accused of sexual violence against women … he is betraying the women who voted for him, and he is betraying all women in America.”
Trump shocked even Republicans when he selected now-former Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Gaetz has been the focus of two investigations launched by the Justice Department and House lawmakers over allegations of sex trafficking, sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. The DOJ dropped their investigation last year without charges.
The public got a sneak peek of the House Ethics Committee’s findings on Monday when an attorney representing two women who testified before the committee said Gaetz paid the women for sex in 2017. One of the women testified that she witnessed Gaetz having sex with an underage girl at a party, which took place the same year Gaetz was sworn into Congress.
Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team denied the attorney’s accusations on Monday, describing the allegations as “baseless.”
Trump also said he plans to appoint Pete Hegseth, a Fox News TV host and veteran, to be the next secretary of defence. Hegseth was investigated for sexual assault for a 2017 incident in Monterey, California, in which he allegedly raped a woman working at the California Federation of Republican Women conference. He reportedly later paid the woman to stay quiet as part of a 2020 nondisclosure agreement.
Hegseth maintains that the encounter was consensual. Hegseth is also known for his push to pardon convicted war criminals, his removal from President Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration over his allegedly white nationalist tattoo, and for publicly advocating against women serving in combat roles.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick for HHS secretary, was accused of sexually assaulting his family’s nanny in the late 1990s when Kennedy was married with five children. It was reported earlier this year that Kennedy texted an apology to the woman and said he didn’t recall the incident. When asked about the allegation later, Kennedy said: “I am not a church boy… I have so many skeletons in my closet.”
Billionaire Elon Musk, tapped by Trump to spearhead a new initiative to cut federal spending called the “Department of Government Efficiency,” was accused of exposing his genitals to a flight attendant in 2016 and attempted to bribe her with gifts to perform sexual acts, according to a Business Insider report. Musk’s company SpaceX paid her $250,000 in 2018.
“If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this is unlikely to be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it comes to light,” Musk told Business Insider, adding that the report was a “politically motivated hit piece” and there is “a lot more to this story.” The Wall Street Journal published a report earlier this year about the “boundary-blurring relationships” Musk has had with several female employees at SpaceX.
Both Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the other billionaire Trump chose to head DOGE, have allegedly fired employees who raised concerns of sexual harassment and gender discrimination at their respective companies.
This trend of welcoming men accused of violence or misconduct against women began this year even before he won the White House. Trump’s first campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was charged with misdemeanor battery over a 2021 incident in which he allegedly stalked and touched a woman at a charity event. Despite being let go from the first campaign over the incident, Lewandowski was back at Trump’s side this August as a senior adviser on his presidential campaign. The 2021 case was later dismissed in exchange for Lewandowski doing community service and paying a $1,000 fine.
When people accused of violence are put in power, they use that power to bury their alleged crimes and avoid accountability. Trump’s presidential win likely means he will skirt any accountability for being convicted on 34 felony charges earlier this year. Gaetz hasn’t even been officially nominated for attorney general yet, and the Republican powers that be are trying to bury the House ethics investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct.
Some of these nominations, like Gaetz, may face difficulties in obtaining Senate confirmation. Jennifer Simmons Kaleba, vice president of communications at RAINN, called on members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to not vote for Gaetz until they have reviewed the House Ethics Committee report, urging the Judiciary Committee to gather all the facts and allow accusers to testify in any confirmation hearings.
“In these nominations, we are seeing what survivors already know — when high-profile, high-powered individuals accused of sexual assault are promoted without fully considering the allegations, everyone suffers,” Simmons Kaleba told HuffPost.
No matter the outcome, Trump’s decision to appoint men like Gaetz and Hegseth to some of the most powerful positions in his administration sends a clear message to survivors of sexual violence.
Trashelle Odom, the woman who accused Lewandowski of unwanted touching, summed up the feeling in an October interview with CBS News. “I just broke down. I was very, very upset,” she said of Lewandowski’s return to Trump’s orbit. “He has his power back.”