He’s so bad that Breitbart won’t even defend him:
“Pro-American immigration reformers and advocates for higher-wages are hammering Donald Trump’s selection of a cheap-labor, migration-boosting employer to run the Department of Labor.
The opponents — some of whom backed Trump’s pro-American, immigration-reducing promises in the election — are rallying opposition to Puzder’s appointment via the twitter hashtag, #NeverPuzder. …”
What happened to #DrainTheSwamp? Did anyone have a clue that #DrainTheSwamp meant Betsy DeVos, Tom Ricketts and Andy Puzder in Trump’s Cabinet? I certainly didn’t. I remember Trump hammering ¡Jeb! over his ties to these people:
“In early 2015 (before Trump entered the race), Puzder participated in a press call warning the Republican candidates for president to follow Jeb Bush’s “lead” on immigration. “People vote with their hearts … our values dictate we should be the party of immigration reform,” he said.
By pretty much any measure, this attitude was totally repudiated in the GOP primary by Trump and his supporters. Trump mocked Bush mercilessly for calling unauthorized immigration an “act of love,” and his own characterizations of immigrants tended to focus on their potential to kill American citizens. And many Republican voters — voting with their hearts — sided with Trump.
But Puzder’s feelings about unauthorized immigrants are much more Bushian than Trumpian.
In a 2013 panel hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, as Frum pointed out on Twitter, Puzder said that immigrant workers were often more grateful for their jobs than native ones — an attitude that contrasts starkly with Trump’s crusade against companies that “replace” native workers with non-native ones so they can pay lower wages.
And during the 2015 call, Puzder expressed sympathy for unauthorized workers who “live in fear of being deported, losing what they’ve built and being separated from their families.”
Trump has made that fear much more widespread and much more palpable for millions of immigrants. And Andy Puzder is now in a position to try to impede Trump (and Sessions) from using the full power of the federal government to enforce immigration law. …”
Yes, we should be very worried.
There is no doubt about it now: this was by far the worst Cabinet pick yet. It also speaks volumes that Kris Kobach was passed over for DHS, but Andy Puzder got Labor Secretary. How do you defend that?
Update: Robert Reich, who I sometimes agree with on labor issues, has this to say about him:
“Apparently, Donald Trump will pick Andy Puzder as his Secretary of Labor.
Having myself served as Secretary of Labor, I cannot imagine someone more unsuited to the job of advancing the cause of working people in America.
If Puzner is confirmed, the working people who voted for Trump will suffer. …”
Trump’s decision to pick Andy Puzder as Labor Secretary is like nominating Ebenezer Scrooge for Secretary of Christmas. I hope the Senate votes against his confirmation.