With all those losers in the administration, you've got to admit—Trump's success is all the more impressive.
(Top loser has to be Jeff Sessions, who has refused to run interference, leaving Trump to crave—ick—Eric Holder.)
16
Elect a crook as president and you get a government of crooks and fools.
136
I vote for Dr. Ronny Jackson, the White House physician, who increased Trump`s height by one inch to 6ft 3 in in order to NOT have Trump officially obese by medical standards.
His ancy defence of his exam of Trump sounded as phony as a 3 dollar bill.
I would suggest that when Mueller gets Trump in front of him that he starts with putting Trump on a weigh scale and then measuring his height to have Trump legally recorded as obese. The rest of the "interview" with Trump will be a slam dunk of Trump admitting/sharing all sorts of criminal money laundering and obstruction activity of himself , his family and the criminals that he has hired.
124
Let's start at the top, I vote Trump.
125
Guess we can't nominate Ben Carson because we don't know what he does.
105
Zinke. He has potential to permanently destroy the Crown Jewels of our natural and cultural heritage. Pruitt would have to be a close second. Overall a pretty sad bunch. Disheartening!
93
They all need to be removed from their taxpayer paid jobs...but Betsey DeVoss ad Steve Mnuchin are really so incompetent, unqualified and incredibly bad they need to be at the top of the list of "remove asap, dangerous to your health".
59
Mnuchin. For his lies and his fallacy of pushing for Tax Cuts that are going to destroy our Country. FYI-Our National Debt is going to sink us.
58
Here in Santa Fe we are starting a, " Ranked Choice" system in up coming local elections sooooooo here goes-
On the premise that regulations can be Overturned by President Booker as quickly as DJT has instituted them, i hafta think that Environmental issues are the most dangerous to play around with. Therefore Pruitt & Zinke are the most dangerous to us all [probably in that order].
After that, i must go w/deVoss. If nothing else, i cant get out of my head her brother's connection w/Blackwater. Meaning, im not sure just how bad she really is.
But at least maybe her Bro can help organize the parade !!
40
I don't know. How about the guy with the blue tie in the picture? If you either didn't get or can't read the memo (about red ties) you're even dumber than the rest. Seriously I think its a tie between Zinke and Pruitt. They have the potential of doing the most harm.
36
Well, hands down, counsellor to the President and former campaign manager, Kellyanne Whatsis, motor mouth, logorrhea tinctured with toxic vitriol.
Nobody does obnoxious better, and as for competence, she was busted in the early days for hawking "Ivanka's stuff" to the American people.
And you know that she doesn't believe her own guff, while Sarah Suckabee Sanders believes hers all too fervently.
I can't tell the guys in the White House from one another, so it's got to be Kellyanne.
45
Why does Jarred not get a mention? Do Trump Family members get a "get out of jail free card?"
37
And is Zinke the one who has someone go to the top of his building to fly a flag to show that he's there? Like the Hindu temples that fly a flag to show that the god is in residence.
22
Scott Pruitt. Our grandchildren will carve his likeness on cave walls when they talk about what happened.
56
In answer to your first question as to whether every terrible person works for the Trump Whitehouse.....
The answer is no. The Clintons do not
.
6
I'm not religious but I believe in God.
I ask God every day why he put these kind of people on the planet.
He doesn't answer.
58
Wow, Gail. This is like trying to choose my favorite of the Three Stooges...but with even more Stooges to choose from!
36
Pruitt for the sheer hatred & contempt he holds for his own agency's mission.
59
Pruitt scares me the most outside of Miller.
38
Pruitt wins for most likely to destroy the planet and the future of humanity.
55
Op=Ed columns are becoming a competition for the funniest description of the
not so funny people running the U.S. Government.
22
Scott Pruitt is essentially an arsonist trying to burn down the home where I raise my family - why getting rid of this man isn’t a greater priority is lost on me
70
Pruitt is doing the most irreparable damage.
33
They are all despicable--it's impossible to choose.
31
God this is almost an impossible task but as several others have voted I think it's a tie between Pruitt & Zinke.
16
By the time the White House swamp is drained, only the White House Chef and maintenance crew will remain
29
So many choices! And that’s just among the names we know! Pruitt.
10
Pruitt. We only have one planet and it will take an eon to recover.
16
After further consideration, I would like to change my vote to Sean Hannity, for his relentless drivel that keeps Trump's base brainwashed.
And Gail, I think you need to have a name for these awards (I'd like to suggest calling them "The Minis"), complete with trophies for the "winners."
19
There are people in Australia's Liberal-National Coalition conservative government who I truly abhor but they are saints and sages compared to this lot! Unfortunately I do think the USA is particularly inclined to produce people who are full of confidence but also full of .... Sorry! DeVos gets my vote. Against public education? Your horns are showing Betsy!
20
Zinke is my pick. He's enriching his buddies and will get something from them in return. Not a pipe dream. It's how these greedy clowns work.
12
The airline did not flush the hamster. The fated hamster's keeper flushed the hamster. In a decent jurisdiction, a crime. The airline promoted the crime, in a decent jurisdiction, a crime.
6
I'd say the dead eyed Hope Hicks, but we all know she has a fine career ahead of her on Fox News serving as eye candy for the alt right boys, most of whom who have never even been on a date by age 35.
So I'll go with Pruitt who seems to be a true believer to the point where he has no problems destroying the planet at all. C'mon, it's fairly arrogant for us to even think there will be a planet by 2100 if he, Zinke and Rick Perry carry out their agendas to their logical conclusions. Or at least not one where anyone wants to live.
23
Only a fool would think there is anything left to save in the united states. The election in 2018 will not be fair (trump himself has told you they are rigged), and I suspect there won't even be an election in 2020.
It is sad to see a third of a once-free people choose autocracy. it is even more pathetic that two-thirds of those people do nothing about it.
#calexit - because Californians at least deserve decency.
16
The end of clean water and air regulations terrifies me. Scott Pruett. Second place to Zinke.
17
I find it impossible to narrow it down to just one. Mike Pence and Scott Pruitt are both horrible, and Stephen Miller is particularly odious.
18
Scott Pruitt who wants to take public lands away from US and give them to private corporations.
21
May I suggest the next contest? Design Trump’s Commander-in-Chief costume for the military parade he’s ordered up in the streets of Washington, D.C.
16
It’s a tie between Pruitt and Miller: one who poisons Mother Earth, the other who poisons minds.
22
From worst to least worst.... In the picture the guy with the red tie on the left, the guy with the red tie on the right, the guy with the red tie next to the guy with the red tie on the right. The least worst, the guy with the blue tie who is a possible Democrat in Republican clothing.
5
Can we expand viewing the swamp a bit and include Nunes? Clearly, he's a "minion".
19
Too hard to make a decision.
They are all inept and incompetent, but I am tired of listening to Huckabee-Sanders repeat known lies and make up some of her own.
She needs a very long vacation.
21
Handing out MVP after only the first quarter? You think we've seen the "best" this gang of sycophantic enablers can offer? Ye of so little faith. I'll wager 2 out of 3 of current cabinet members will be gone by the time the curtain comes down on this clown show. Wait for the water to be inching up the decks on this administration and the rats begin their mad scramble of looting and self preservation before anointing best.
14
How soon can the war crimes against the American people tribunal be formed? I want to attend all the testimonies from these people.
12
They're all terrible. I was hoping to see the pocket tyrant, Stephen Miller.
16
Zinke and Pruit will cause the most irreperable widspread harm. Unless Pence gets in to the Oval office.
19
Trick question!!
“Does every terrible employee in America work for the Trump White House?”
No, but everyone who works in the Trump White House is a terrible employee.
Oh boy, what do I win !!?
15
Gail do you think treason has been committed by trump and his gang?
6
Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She puts the snarky, dismissive, disrespectful face of the administration on the lies, distractions, and half-truths the free press rightly question for us. And her ubiquitous, “Thanks, guys,” routinely dismisses the women in the room.
23
I always called Tumpt‘s cabinet, the cabinet of horrors.
Just ignorent and arogent. As Trumpt would say, „so sad“.
11
Going thru the list is depressing. worst people ever running this country. It’s as if these were selectively picked by our enemies to hasten our decline and destruction....
14
Read it as tragedy? Or read it as farce?
4
It’s a tough call, but Zinke narrowly edges out Pruitt. Hoisting a flag and engraving medals to yourself is worse than the secret phone booth. Zinke is trying his darndest to pillage our public lands. He’s sneakier than Pruitt.
10
How can any of Trump's supporters call this reality check of the current White House staff "Fake News". Oh, there's also that despicable Sarah Sanders who lies every time she opens her mouth for her boss Trump and acts like she's doing us a favor to listen to her lies.
13
OMG had to read this twice just to realize how many people are left off the list.
You have to go back to the Nuremberg trials to find a worse bunch of minions. Thank you for this Gail it is astonishing to read and think about.
13
Didn't you forget Ben Carson, who I'm told is giving all kinds of no bid contracts to family members--or is that kind of everyday corruption just too ho-hum to count?
10
While they all make me want to throw up, Scott Pruitt Is robbing this country in the world of any future that it might’ve had. He is the devil incarnate. But Trump picked him. And the proverbial apple does not fall far from the tree.
10
After reading your column Gail, the photo says it all. I’d say they’re all cut from the same cloth.
6
I have to go with Ross. Out of all the derelict's he is the one most capable of securing long term damage to democracy. And thanks for the morning laugh! Even if that laugh is rooted in grim reality. But then most everyday under Trump rule is a grim one.
5
Stephen Miller...that said Monty Python's Flying Circus would be more competent than any of the twits in the Trump Administration.
5
Okay, I notice you didn't put Rick Perry on the list? But, hey, it's easy to forget he's even there since he reportedly never goes to the office and was last seen at the infamous Boy Scout Jamboree where Trump went on one of his rants. Or what about "The-pyaramids-are-grain-storage-bins" Ben Carson, himself, eh? Stupendous job he's doing.
Okay, okay, given this list though, I gotta go with Scott Pruitt. Of all the Trump minions, I believe he's the most effective at destroying everything he can get his hands on, which is A LOT. He's actually smart, too. He knows what he's doing. Yes, he gets my award because he's EVIL and he's EFFECTIVE at carrying out the Trump (or Bannon/Miller, really) goal of utterly destroying the government to pave the way for Oligarchy and rule of the 1%.
14
DeVoss. Destroying education for the next generation.
6
Minion or mignonette, and the award goes to Scott Pruitt whose actions will not only effect the environment but the health of all American's young and old for generations to come.
9
Drain the Swamp - remove Stephen Miller. He is as toxic as they come.
9
How do we choose between weapons grade plutonium and a toxic virus that could wipe us all out.
11
Stephen miller. There’s so much hatred churning within, he will pop one day soon. He should not be in the White House when he does.
9
I vote for Scott Pruitt as he is causing damage and health issues that will take a long time to correct
10
It’s a tie between Pruitt and Zinke. Neither has any concern for our environment; our lands and our ocean; and when these precious resources are spoilt, they are gone.
10
Good article, but shouldn't we be past the putdown of a "come-hither hairdo". Judging a woman for something like that is what we're trying to stop, isn't it?
3
i vote for the man in charge....that's who should go away first.
10
It's a real tough choice, so I'm hedging and choosing three, in order of most damage caused to the nation: Pruitt (obvious), Price (while he was busy destroying HHS), and Sessions. Though I agree with Mountaineer's choice of Stephen Miller, who does, indeed, look like Roy Cohn, thuggish and thick-lipped. Though he doesn't look like Ralph Fiennes in "Schindler's List," he personifies the character Amon Goeth.
8
Please help me comprehend the current President, who documented himself on tape and video, as an obviously proud sexual harasser and abuser of women. How is it the President of the USA continues to escape the scrutiny of the voters of the USA, his political party, the GOP, and is not forced to resign?
20
You left out 4 important minions.
(1)Head Trump Whisperer, Stephen Miller
(2) Secretary of Obfuscation, Sarah (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree) Huckabee Sanders
(3) President of the Trump Fan Club, Hope Hicks
and just for fun...
(4) The guy who couldn't remember the name of the dept he was going to eliminate but was ultimately appointed to ...Secretary of Energy Rick Perry
35
Laughing might be the most subversive resistance. Thank you Gail Collins, you help keeping my sanity.
15
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke is the worst of the lot,since you won't let us vote everybody. He's doing the most harm.
10
With the most malicious combination of incompetence, ineptitude and corruption in living memory, this Republican administration is finally making good on its attempts to prove that government doesn't work; government can't work.
As for who would be my nominee for who's worst, I am unable to pick just one. I would have to offer Jeff Sessions and Scott Pruitt. Together, these two could easily put the U.S.A. back 200 years.
15
The worst Trump minion? Now, that's going to be difficult considering this administration and the Congress are made up of so many of them.
Of course, in a knee-jerk reaction, I'd have to go with Jeff Sessions, but that's mainly because of the position he's in at the Justice Department, and this being a time of little or no justice. I also voted for him to go last time.
Another strong runner-up would have to be Steve Mnuchin, because he's in charge of all the money and I can't get that picture of him and his luxury-loving wife clutching sheets of new dollar bills out of my head.
Then there's H.R. McMaster and John Kelly, because at one time they were supposed to be the adults in the room.
Forget the entire Republican Congress, they're not even worth a dishonorable mention.
Scott Pruitt deserves a stake driven through his heart for what he's doing to this country and its environment and Ryan Zinke is no better.
Can't vote for them all, so I guess I'll have to start at the top and wish Trump himself to go away.
Is that OK???
14
Definitely Pence. He is the biggest deterrent to inditing or impeaching or jailing Trump.
18
Hmm... Kellyanne Conway or Sarah Sanders? I would go with the results of a coin toss. It seems Sarah can keep a straight face while lying, but then again, maybe her face is just stuck that way.
9
Wow! Steve Mnuchin posed "dressed in black opera gloves and a come-hither hairdo"? Cool, I vote for him. Oh, I see you mean his wife. In that case I vote for the guy who falls asleep during meetings. It would be great if the rest of Trump's staff followed his lead.
9
Trumpatopia is a bleak, deeply disconcerting and dangerous proposition.
I do look forward to your work: Attitude, revelations, blunt call outs, and rye humor.
It occurs to me however that there are similarly devastating and dangerous phenomena that are so beyond the pale that no form of humor or satire however suitably scathing sets well. Examples: genocide, suicide bombings, terrorism, grave human deprivation (famine, colossal natural disasters).
Lampoonery, exposing the ridiculous, the idiotic, the farcical has informative value, and gives needed relief, but it can also lend a sense normalcy to the subject.
The Trump presidency in all its perverse manifestations as the new American political normal is decidedly dangerous and apparently on the rise.
Might you consider something akin to the Surgeon General’s warning on the grievous health effects of cigarettes as a standard part of your pieces on Trumpatopia?
6
In a kakistocracy like this one, it is by definition nearly impossible to single out the very worst of the governing worst. Given, however, that all of life depends upon a habitable planet — and that the quality of said life depends upon the vibrancy or lack thereof of the world around us — the crazy-evil destroyers Pruitt and Zinke share my vote.
13
Forgot about Mulvaney - basically killing the CFPB and no push back on horrible budgets deals....although this list of deplorables is truly sad...
10
Steve Miller is a malevolent creature who only comes out at night to quoth “Sez who” and write about American carnage and other charming fairytales. Would I vote him #1? I can’t decide whether to go for him or the guy who will wreck the environment for eons (Zinke). Or maybe I should concentrate more on the near future and select Wilbur Mills who will make the 2020 census the one that is useless for the election and future genealogists. OK. I’m going with Zinke because I didn’t know about the torture except to all the flora and fauna he’s killing. Yup, Zincke for #1.
12
Kakistocracy: government by the worst persons; a form of government in which the worst persons are in power.
7
I have to agree with "The Mooch;" the fish rots from the head. Trump administration officials, with the exception of a few (e.g., James Mattis) , seem to be interested in only meeting the low ethical standards set by their boss. I think Scott Pruitt has caused the most damage, but that doesn't make him incompetent - it's quite the opppsite. You can choose incompetence (Ben Carson), cowardice (Vice President Pence), arrogance (Steve Mnuchin), or just plain lying (too many to list). Now we have domestic violence (Porter). The only standard that seems to matter is loyalty, and given the turnover among the staff, that bar has been set impossibly high.
7
What if we just erected a wall around 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
14
They are all bad but if I had to choose one agency it would be the EPA because trashing all environmental regulations may result in irreversible harm to the planet. The ultimate blame must go to the truly ignorant, bigoted self absorbed people who voted for someone who was clearly unqualified in every way. I am no Republican but any one of the other primary candidates would be doing a better job. For that matter selecting a president by picking a random name from any phone book in the country would like have produced a better result.
8
Tough decision. I think I voted for Pruitt the last time you had this column, and I think I will stay with that vote. My runner-up would be Zinke, who is mismanaging an underappreciated department. If Harold Ickes could see what has happened to his beloved Department of the Interior, he would have a fit!
7
if we're voting on most inept, it's DeVos. if we're voting on most hapless, it's Tillerson, with Sessions as runner-up. But we are voting on who you'd most like to see go away and that is Pruitt. He's the one (besides Trump) most likely to trigger mass destruction.
9
Wow, only being able to pick one is tough... but I would have to go with Gen. Flynn who helped sell us to the Russians, was/is involved in some way with interference in the elections, and whose son targeted Hillary Clinton with fake news with one of the results being that someone fired a gun into a D.C. pizza restaurant (pizza-gate). He may be long gone - but no doubt we are still dealing with the results of his Russian connections.
8
Does our vote mean the winner goes away?
9
I can only imagine the painting of Trump's executive leadership team as rendered by Hieronymous Bosch. Please, someone Photoshop "The Garden of Earthly Delights"!
6
A dead heat (sorry) between Scott Pruitt and Stephen Miller.
7
Given the individual and collectively destructive nature of Trump’s “very best” people, it is actually astonishing that anything on the federal government level functions at all anymore. Clearly, the worst Trump “minion” is Trump himself. His life history tells it all: stick with him and you will lose your shirt and your honor — not to mention your money. To this he may now add: your democracy.
4
Such an abundance of mendacity & malice makes it so hard to choose. The newbies show enormous potential (heaven help us), but the vote must really go to one of the deplorables with a proven record. For me, its a really tough voice between Pruitt & Zinke. Can I give each one half a vote? If not, then its Pruitt.
7
The clue was uncovered months ago with the, 'Grab 'em by the ......" The West Wing is a locker room.
6
this is harder than taking bar exam ! too many choices ! can we just vote for "Trump Group" since he is the leader ?
5
trump himself is the gold standard.
5
Steven Miller doesn’t even make the list? That’s like a “Best quarterback of all time” list that doesn’t include Joe Montana!
4
You forgot to mention Elaine Chou and her tax avoidance offshore accounts.
9
Kirstjen Neilsen is totally a Norwegian name.
Everyone who cannot recall anything incriminating.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders who lies more than Trump because she has to.
4
PRUITT--he's doing the most damage.
3
Pruitt. hands down. how many Americans will get sick and suffer from terminal or chronic disease due to his systematic dismantling of our environmental protections?
Dirty air and water harm more Americans than terrorists ever could.
8
Searching for the worst minion? Sweet Jesus, Gail, with such an abundance of riches from which to choose, you do present US with a difficult task. There are just so many occurrences over this past year it would take a staff at the Times to it justice. Please, have mercy on US. The Times is more than capable and up to it. Let you and them have away at it. Good luck.
DD
Manhattan
22
What about Kellyanne Conway? She seems to be lying low on the Oval Office couch creating new alternate facts.
21
Why, why why is Tillerson not even in for the vote? He, combined with the vile, evil man that is called the President, have destroyed the State Department. Doesn't that count for anything?
23
The princelings.
19
Wow! That’s a tough one. Pick your poison.
But if I had to choose I would go with Sessions, continues his silence with trumps attack on the Justice Department and the FBI. But Mnuchin comes in at the disgustingly second choice.
But they are all top 10 worst administration officials in the history of the United State.
22
At risk of bringing up Godwin, this does remind me of the second and third-rate people the Nazis put into office to do their nasty work.
10
We need some criteria here... worst as in most venal has to be Pruitt, who is smart and nasty and is systematically redefining the mission of EPA away from climate protection to corporate handmaiden. Worst as in grossly incompetent mental bimbo it’s got to go to De Vos, who has found education policy a whole lot tricker to navigate than selling Amways basic h cleaner. Most dangerous as in ready willing and able to use government to push his particular brand of moralism is The Toady in Chief, Mr. Pence, whose smug perpetually patronizing mug is so downright infuriating, when he’s not leading the other choirboys in singing paeans of praise for The Donald. Woof.
27
Zinke! What he's doing to sabotage the mission of protecting our PUBLIC lands may not be able be undone once these people are finally relegated to the trash bin of history!!
12
How can one leave out Sarah H S, certainly the most hypocritical or faux Christian and the most frequent public liar in DT's morally bankrupt crew? I'm afraid she is betting on more forgiveness than God could possibly allow. First she publicly defends sexual predators, now she even publicly defends a spouse beater. WWJD?!
31
Scott Pruitt. He is busy killing our planet for the oligarchs. Doesn't he have family? The damage he is doing can't be reversed. In my book he leads the basket of deplorables of this administration.
28
Pruitt. With the plans this crew has, the only thing worse than the bumbling idiots are the competent ones who are busy choosing profit over the surface temperature of our planet, and making it happen.
19
We haven't heard much lately about Wilbur Ross and his ownership stake in the Bank of Cyprus, implicated in the Deutsche Bank money-laundering scheme for Russian oligarchs.
Can we bring back Mr. Ed, the talking horse?
"Oh Wilbur! Oh Wiiiibuuurr!"
20
Wilbur Ross for his efforts to skew elections and keep Republicans in power forever. We can only hope he naps so much he cannot fulfill this mission
12
Stephen Miller. Almost 300,000 American soldiers died fighting Nazis. They don't belong any near the white House.
34
Trump = incompetence personified. Thus he surrounds himself with those who are incompetent. The White House Barnum and Bailey show is not amusing. It is disgusting. The ring master is the worlds greatest Narcissist. Sad deal.
We are now seeing the rats leaving the sinking ship. Various reasons given - but for the most part they relate to Trumps only talent - consistently picking losers.
15
I've got to give it to Huckabee-sanders. I'm mesmerized by her ability to just lie and lie and lie and still have the energy to scowl like the next reporter may or may not get a massive ass kicking. Both literally and figuratively.
If only she was a soldier of God, not a soldier of "little Cheese".
At least Spicer squirmed and studdered his lies.
And although not part of the administration - Ryan, McConnel and Nunez are the worst. Downright scary. As far as the Russia investigation, treasonous in their lying (Nunez) and obstruction to truth (McConnell and Ryan).
22
Scott Pruitt hands down. Trump could only replace him with someone equally bad, but not worse. Pruitt's appointment would be a sick joke, if not for the fact that there's nothing funny about the damage he is causing which will be experienced over generations.
51
Scott Pruitt - because of scope. His ruinous policies extend beyond the borders of this country; he is quite literally ruining the world. Plus, the damage he does now cannot be easily undone by a new administration and a new head of the EPA. The havoc he wreaks will be felt for generations to come.
46
After seeing several seismic exploration trucks in action in this SoCal beachside community recently, I have to go with Ryan Zinke for opening up the coast to more offshore oil and gas drilling, and for giving the green light to uranium mining and exploration in what were national parks (or National Park adjacent). The oil and gas and uranium mining industries aren't wasting any time in their preparations to further exploit and poison our beautiful natural environment. Riding around on a horse like the Marlboro Man is kind of ironic. Zinke's PR ploy is just about as stupid as tobacco industry advertising.
37
I already submitted my nominee - "The Girl With the Pearl Necklace"; but I have to say this is fun, Ms Collins! You can not imagine how I need to smile and chuckle after jaw-dropping Trump-related news on a hourly and daily basis. And thank you, fellow commenters, for allowing my day to start kinda', sorta' happy. Let's see...okay, 500 more comments to go. Yippee!
23
It's all fun and games replacing these, well, losers until we contemplate those who would take their place. Roy Moore to replace, say, Betsy DeVos? Or Eric Trump as secretary of the Treasury?
9
I'm going with Stephen Miller. Every thought he expresses so far is a malign stew of racism, authoritarianism and arrogance. He clearly has influence over the TIC (Tweeter in Chief) and has a talent for wide-spectrum offensiveness.
37
I think one of the signs I saw at the last women's march said it all..."I've seen smarter cabinets at IKEA".
56
My vote is McConnell and the Senate for allowing these people to get confirmed in the first place.
44
Couple of nights ago I did listen to part of her ordeal in Big brother, she broke down in tears .
I did not know anything about her because i never watched any of trump`s apprentice shows.
But I find Omarosa Manigault to be absolutely articulate and is capable of taking charge while trump is not .
So she is not it.
How about trump himself is his worse Minion ?
9
My vote is for Scott Pruitt. The damage he is doing is the most egregious and long-term.
38
Pruitt is a pure, dyed in the wool, corporate hack. He knows absolutely nothing about "environmental protection" except that he wants to eliminate it to allow his corporate masters to run amok and make greater fortunes. Sad that those fortunes will be made on the sickness and death of Americana, and total destruction of our environment.
Zinke, the one who was stopped from advancement in the Navy due to his utter corruption, is close behind, and largely in cahoots with Pruitt. Zinke never had anything but wholesale giveaways of public land in mind when he got the call - a lucky day for him and his future fortunes (not all bribes are paid up front and Zinke has a golden opportunity to satisfy the corporations and get paid later in lucrative contracts or employment).
23
Pruitt as been especially corrupt in his directives that no agendas, minutes or even notes be produced for or at any meetings. That is to circumvent all request for records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). No records taken? No records available to be requested! Brilliant. Stalin would have been impressed by Pruitt's utter contempt for the American People and their right to know what their government is doing. Pruitt obviously does not believe the government is by or for the American People. Silly them, it is for the enrichment of corporations. Period.
30
Pruitt is probably the one who is the most likely to actually help destroy human life on earth. The fact that it will most likely happen to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren is not exactly a redeeming factor.
19
Betsey DeVos or Pruitt because they hold the lives of children in their privileged hands. The family values party,( or was it the anti-deficit party) is heinous enough in its hypocrisy and brazen disregard of truth so you'd think at least more than 60% our female citizens or our bible study citizens would have figured out that they have been played. Instead we get this drumbeat of noise blaming victims and justifying ends with despicable means. Progressives have been vilified for envisioning a future where things as simple as water and air are protected and children have the right to decent health care and an secular education-- which seems as sensible as it is within the ideals for which we fought. This presidency has brought us zero for our children unless corporate tax cuts can be breathed, walls can be eaten and thirst for knowledge slaked by a creationist curriculum.
19
Pruitt, absolutely effective at destroying the environment and endangering our health. What he is doing is permanently destructive and unforgivable.
19
John Kelly deserves to be on the list. As a retired Marine General he should be ashamed to represent the motto of every Marine in the armed forces: Semper Fi. He is now using that motto of "Always Faithful" to disgracefully apply it solely to his beloved leader.
19
I say, put their names in a bag and each day draw out one that has to go. How many days would it take to drain just the White House swamp using that system?
Then move to the House of Representatives and do the same thing, drawing two names each day. Then the Senate, drawing three per day. Then the Supreme Court knocking them out, one per day, Conservative, Liberal, Conservative, Liberal until the bench is empty.
Let the bureaucracy run the country until 2020 and then fill all the vacant White House, Senate, House, and Court positions using the system for calling jurors to duty. We couldn't get any more incompetence that way than we are with this pay-to-play system we are using.
6
I vote for "everybody." I suspect that you said "No fair saying everybody" at the end of your column, but as this is the Age of Trump, we're not expected to read anything past the first paragraph.
10
Decisions, decisions. All of the above might be unfair, but I'll have to go with that. One is more deplorable than the next. But the most deplorable of them all is the American electorate. How could they!!
15
Of course the worst offender is the president himself--he sets a terrible example to all of the staff, and, heaven help us, he demonstrates that he (they) can get away with anything.
Whether he admits it or not, Trump was influenced by Steve Bannon's conviction that the government and its departments should be destroyed. So while Bannon was still at the White House Trump appointed men and women who were antithetical to the work of the very department they headed--a sure fire recipe for disaster. And disaster we've had in spades.
The comments on this article are a treat, especially Socrates, gemli, and David Underwood.
6
Of the worthies mentioned, I'll pick the one who is the likeliest contributor to actually killing the most people over time, Scott Pruitt. However, you forgot to mention Sec'y of Transportation Elaine Chao -- although she may be an otherwise nice person, earlier this month reversed a decision requiring oil rail tank cars to be fitted with an advanced braking system designed to prevent "fiery derailments".
12
I vote for Scott Pruitt for two reasons. First, by treating global warming as a hoax he is causing us to cede renewable energy technology to China and Europe, thus giving away one technology of the future. Second, by delaying our response to this issue he is ensuring massive climate disruption around the world both for our children and for generations far into the future.
16
Pruitt by a landslide. Air, water and land quality are foundational to our livelihood and his efforts to undermine environmental regulation will cause lasting damage.
16
He's not on the list, but I think you gotta go with Ben "Sleepy Eyes" Carson, who toured housing developments and asked elderly people if they were too comfortable.
10
The senior Republican senators (including McCain). These are the people with the power and experience to bring the President to heel, but they don't even try.
12
As a retired educator, I vote for Ms. DeVos. Tax funds to support schools where the science curriculum insists that the cosmos is less than 10,000 years old just does not sit well with me.
9
The problem is that no one with any moral integrity will work at the White House. So we are left with those who are incompetent( Carson and Perry) and those who are determined to use their positions to undermine their respective agencies. Sycophants all.
But if I have to choose, I vote for Mick Mulvaney, head of Office of Management and Budget and titular head of the Consumer Protection Financial Board, which is being dismantled , and possibly, the new chief of staff.
11
Rex Tillerson still has my vote for trying to destroy career diplomacy. Right before a trip to Latin America he endorsed the Monroe Doctrine. You can't make these things up!
7
My vote goes to Scott Pruitt. Pruitt clearly has no interest in protecting the environment, and he is not doing anything to protect the environment. He is not doing a job he was hired to do, but he continues to be paid for not doing his job. Is that nothing less than fraud--accepting compensation for work not done?
10
Thanks for this list! (What happened to the hamster? )
It made me laugh. Now I need to go lie down.
1
Mr, Devin Nunes, Trump's emotional support pet in the house. This is the man who would lead an investigation to condemn the victim when Trump shoots someone in 5th Avenue.
13
Thank you, Gail Collins, for your regular dose of smelling salts to help the republic stave off despair and endure insanity. The emperor has no clothes. Thank you for reminding us of that with fact and wit. Abraham Lincoln famously said, "Give the American people the facts and the country will be saved." I continue to hope and trust in his wisdom and your pen for which Trump's very small sword is no match.
5
Pruitt. Pruitt. Pruitt. The most dangerous, inflicting the most damage of them all. But it's a really tough, very close call. (And yes, the list is too short, but that would make deciding that much more protracted.)
11
Every time I pick one as the worst another name interferes with my choice. Never has a poorer job of appointing been done in this country. I suspect Jefferson Davis was even better in his appointees than these failures. I learned long ago that a business that suffered a high rate of employee and executive turnover was poorly run. When I look at this white house and try to compare it to examples from my past I find no comparison.This place is a zoo and truly must be a total tragic environment as a working place. It always reflects the top leadership.
4
Ten answers will bring 10 different choices. I didn't see Tillerson's name mentioned yet, so I'll take him by default. Come on, A major officer from Exxon chosen to make the deals in a world that is wholly dependent on energy to sustain life? Or at least wants to keep fossil fuels as the coin of the realm? Looks like a dead heat photo finish at the racetrack among the entire Draft Dodger's cabinet.
17
Mnuchin Seriously, that picture of he and his wife holding a shief of 20 dollar bills at the US mint was appalling. They were gloating as though the money belonged to him. His wife makes Marie Antoinette look like Mother Teresa. Both of them have no scruples and have ripped off the tax payers for personal trips abroad and in the U. S. How appalling.
30
Pruitt, far and away, no question.
50
I want to say the American Voters who continue to support this President in spite of his glaring deficiencies and lack of interest in their problems. But okay, its got to be the Blushing Southern Pixie, Jeff Sessions, the man so intent on returning our country to the segregated and myopic 1950's that he is willing to endure any slimy indignity heaped upon him by his boss.
44
Voting for Sessions is not fair. Jeff started so far ahead of the pack in his in-competencies' mendacity, and all-around sliminess that it will take 3 years for others to make it to his starting line.
4
Don’t kid yourself. 30%(at least) of Americans are just like trump. Ponder that sad fact.
6
what do all these prize appointees have in common (besides greed, selfishness, and clulessness)?
they were all appointed by Trump. a fish stinks from the head.
my vote goes to the President... a vote for removal, that is.
3
Mnuchin, why have a thief in charge of the Treasury.
22
Because that’s where the money is...
2
Stephen Miller
59
Flat-out neo-Nazis like Miller are ineligible for the award. We're looking for foks to shudder and laugh at, not ones that are downright evil.
5
Unfortunately, Collins asked for votes on hlarious incompetence, not plain old bwa-ha-ha, "Yes, YES, HAIL SATAN!" Evil.
3
I agree with Mountaineer - Stephen Miller, Trump's Rasputin.
48
Actually, I read a good book about Rasputin. He was a typical religious huckster taking advantage of the superstitious nature of the powerful and enabling their instincts, not necessarily his, but in actual influence, relatively benign compared to this bunch.
2
They all need to be sequestered on some remote island for life. They are a grave danger to humanity!
38
Love the attitude - keep it up! The GOP will survive the House battle in 2018 yet.
Don't put them all together! They might combine to make a morally repugnant critical mass! Reminds me of a Star Trek episode....remember the Botany Bay?
1
Problem is, if you remove one, they will be replaced by the same or worse. That’s why you have to start at the top. Then the whole stinky swamp will drain.
53
Susan is correct. We need to get rid of the person (Trump) who does the selection of these under-qualified people, and replace Trump with a sane stable person ... male or female.
"Problem is, if you remove one, they will be replaced by the same or worse. That’s why you have to start at the top. Then the whole stinky swamp will drain."
The swamps being drained are at the EPA, IRS, FBI, DOE, and CFPB. drip, drip, drip....
2
I don’t think it’s possible to find worst people.
3
All four in the photo should be gone. You don't need to see their faces to know they're patronizing their country just by with the way they dress.
23
I'm guessing Trump has already fired the guy who had the audacity to wear a blue tie.
2
Every single one of them gets a Participation Trophy in the White House Sweep Stakes for awful behavior, but OK, Gail, if I have to choose...
My head says go with Scott Pruitt. I spent my career working on satellite instrumentation to monitor global climate trends (I'm sure I'm in line for the death penalty from deniers throughout this administration), and Pruitt's willful, mendacious negligence on the science of climate change is a death sentence for the Earth ...and his kids and grandkids, by the way, who will inherit his mess.
My heart, though, says Mike Pence. Many of the horrible policies coming out of this administration all point in his direction: Judicial appointments, the Global Gag Order that will literally kill thousands (maybe millions) of poor women around the world, moving the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, etc., etc. Pence is the lickspittle guy we were warned about by Sinclair Lewis when he said, "When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
122
I agree wholeheartedly! You just said it so well.
5
The fish always stinks from the head down...
33
You could easily make the case for worst minion for every lying sycophant that works in the WH as well as Nunes even though technically, he's in Congress but he serves the same purpose as all the other toadies.
iI's really a tough choice since these people are all so despicable.
Having said that, I would have to vote for Pruitt and Zinke. Their destruction to the environment and our precious land will be felt for generations.
41
I'm surprised no has even mentioned Sleepy-Face Pedantic, aka Ben Carlson. Just like Tillerson, he's isolating himself and ruining moral at HUD.
Just thinking about him makes me want to take a nap.
25
Pruitt. Please make him go away.
32
This is what we voted into the our government to advocate for us middle class! We are the stupid bunch to believe that Trump cares for us average American citizens and gave him and his greedy friends the votes to run our democracy!
19
Scott Pruitt
23
Mnuchin and his horrible trophy wife win for Most Embarrassing Minion.
29
Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton was right. They are ALL deplorable.
Their supposed "god" won't help us. Only WE THE PEOPLE can/will stop them before their sinister plan - along with their International Mafia Robber Baron/Radical religion Good Old Boys' Cabal brethren - carry out their plans to destroy governments around the world and OUR lives.
NOW is the time. NOW may be the only time. WE THE PEOPLE must stop them by any means necessary. Clearly the "process" is not working.
48
Hillary should have never backed off her description of Trumps people as deplorable‘s.
It turned out to be an understatement.
5
Njglea, I agree with you whole heartedly, if by “ALL” are deplorable, you mean all politicians including the Royal Clintons. As far as fighting back we didn’t have a lot of help during the Obama years either, especially those involved with Occupy Wall Street, they pretty much got thrown to the gutter by the establishment including H.R.C. and her Wall Street paymasters, and by “their God” I assume you mean the accumulation of money as expressed by Lloyd Blankfein who giving his job description before Congrees, “ I was doing God’s Work”. They are indeed all not only deplorable but more aptly despicable. B.T.W. I would hardly refer to Kushner, Cohen, Mnunchin etc as “ good old boys”, there’s a new gang in town and good old boys they ain’t.
1
We used to worry about agencies being "captured" by the corporations they regulated. No more. The agencies are now being stuffed with the people they used to regulate. That is so much more efficient than having to lobby the regulators. Just put the corporate employees or lobbyists in charge and let them do whatever they want.
25
Trump favors "extreme vetting," so he says. I guess we not have a new definition of "extreme vetting." When it comes to people in important positions in the government, the questions and answers are:
Who did you vote for? (Yes)
Have you given money to my campaign? (Yes)
Are you wealthy? (Yes)
Do you know anything about the position to which I would appoint you? (No)
Do you pledge loyalty to me, no matter what? (Yes)
You're hired.
70
Good analysis!!!
2
I can't put Jeff Sessions at the top of the list as he did one thing right and that infuriated his corrupt boss, that is, recusing himself as the investigator to Trump's Russian cover up. Of course he is still involved and not beyond reproach, but that he did not join the cover up at least in that moment is heartening. That he stands for certain state's rights then denies them to others according to his impulses makes him close to the top of the list and his history of bigotry does not help him.
But the survivor Scott Pruitt as the enemy of his own agency and the people he is pledged to protect is on the top of my list. His insidious work as protector of the rich oil and fossil fuel companies done effectively and gladly makes him an arch villain.
57
I vote for good old Wilbur. His only seeming reason for being selected was that Mr. Trump likes billionaires. And Secretary of Trade seemed a natural. Thus when that left wing publication Forbes outed sleepy Wilbur as not only not being part of that club, but also lieing about it repeatedly, seems to me he should get removed. Surely someone else in Trump Tower or Miralago could be found who meets that key qualification-being a wide awake billionaire who wears size 9 slippers-to step in.
13
Check out old Wilbur for money laundering via The Bank of Cyprus.
2
Actually, according to the article, no one ever told Belen Aldecosea to flush her hamster down the toilet. The airline is only guilty of telling Aldecosea the pet was allowed just to refuse her boarding when she came to the gate. Flushing the hamster was apparently Aldecosea's idea. The terrifying part is that she actually did it.
We've all had our terrible experiences with airport security but I'm not sure this one is necessarily the airport's fault. Mistakes were made but I can see where confusion might arise. The hamster was described on the phone as an emotional support animal. In other words, a service animal. You can see how someone on the other end of the phone might misinterpret what was actually going on. I can see where the gate attendant might take a different view. Either way, flushing the hamster would not be my first, second, or even hundredth reaction to the news that I had just been bumped from a flight.
In short, this is why college students shouldn't have pets.
15
Is this another case of ‘blaming the victim’...???
On a lighter note: do they have hamsters on Air Force 1 ...?
3
Hard to choose who is worst, but Scott Pruitt, the anti-EPA EPA chief tops the list: he is corrupt, dangerous but also effective, whereas many others in the Trump cabinet are merely corrupt, dangerous & inept. Pruitt's policies to derail America's transition to clean renewable energy so he can tilt the playing field back to dirty fossil fuels that pollute the air, water and contribute to global warming which have exacerbated climate catastrophes, droughts, famine & wildfires, is dangerous not only to public health, to undermining the economy ($300 billion in disasters just in 2017), but dangerous to the planet. Other countries that suffer the impacts of tsunami, sea level rise, superstorms, droughts & famine should sue the United States for their disaster aid. At minimum, impose carbon tax on every import from the US which they can use to fund remediation.
39
Scott Pruitt, hands down. If you don't have a planet to live on, good public education, a fiscally responsible government, and national security are kind of irrelevant.
41
It is a difficult choice: Pruitt or Zinke, but I have to go with Pruitt. Zinke is more than willing to destroy the planet in the name of greed with his mining obsession, but Pruitt is shutting down any/all avenues of opportunities to stay the monster climate change that is heading toward us like a tsunami. In fact, he does so gleefully. Definitely Pruitt.
2
Out here in Utah--with its beautiful parks, scenery, and tourism economy--lots of people would say Interior Ryan Zinke, former Navy Seal and business developer (loves "clean coal").
It was Zinke who told Trump we really need shrink lots of national monuments and parks and reverse land and marine management policies to make America the Beautiful much more ugly, polluted, and ruined by development and mining.
Like the bad guys in cowboy movies, Zinke road into Bears Ears monument in Utah on a horse to privatize much of the breathtaking and sacred lands beloved by Native American groups and nature lovers. Then he got one group of Native Americans to say how great this was because there would be more mining jobs available for "their people."
Because Trump prefers bad and damaging advice to good advice, he listened to Zinke's recommendation and issued an edict to shrink Bears Ears by 85 percent and Grand Staircase-Escalante by nearly 46 percent.
And now with the blessing of Pope Trump, Zinke is reviewing 27 more monuments established under the 1996 Antiquities Act that "gives the president broad authority to safeguard federal lands and waters under threat." (Washington Post, 12/5/17)
Question: How do we safeguard federal lands and waters--as well as every other institution in this country-- from the threat of Trump and his marauding minions?
48
How do we stop him? Sue. Those actions will be tied up in court until trump leaves office.
3
Seems clear that we need a Congress that will enact laws to constrain the power of the President, whether it be the power to wage war or unilaterally issue orders that do great harm to the country. We have er before had such ignorance and self serving irresponsibility in the office so Congress has been willing to let their prerogatives erode out of fear of losing an election. We need some profiles in courage.
3
An alternative view of how terrible persons and their despicable traits come to view and fall follows two ideas; one, the worst evils surface when they are defended and denied; two, that defense and denial reveals a cluster of the terrible, a community of evil idiots whose mimicry outlines their moral void and power-driven evil intent.
This alternative view says spiritual forces are at work beyond the veil of the living, and these forces twine around human virtues and vices to reveal the best and worse of each of us, esp. those in high positions. Awareness of this spiritual view humbles many who decide to humble themselves before the spirit forces their submission to its own higher authority. Those who defy it see their character stripped, even as they protest and rationalize.
So we see Trump, his team and appointments to be morally and spiritually bereft. Their power cannot keep their emptiness from being brought to the light. For some, these incidents are the work of the spirit, an affirmation of an intervention by something bigger and grander than ourselves.
That same spirit says Trump's notions of winning are wicked, defiant of harmony and humanity, dismissive of free will expect to pursue power and avarice. The immigrant issue is only a part of the larger issue of global displacement, but blame and fear clouds our eyes, anger and fear drives solutions that will also be called to reckoning, but like blind mules we fail to see. But some bear witness and wait the day.
6
Gail, I don't think your column is long enough to list all the despicables who represent the Trump administration. There are the speechwriters who badly attempted to introduce poetic prose and empathy into his State of the Union Speech and whoever the source of information was for Trump's calling for more immigrants from Sweden -- a country that is dealing with a major rise in White Supremist power. Then there is the lack, or uneducated, advisors and guardians of decency to block his ignorant, abusive, and childish tweets that have national and international impact. We are not only a country that, to the world, has lost its moral and intellectual compass, we are indeed a rudderless ship at a time when the forces of nature threaten to swamp us. I am an atheist, but say, "God help us all!"
33
The Trump cabinet is a swamp- so you are asking which swamp creature needs to be pulled out as they all sink deeper. I would suggest Steve Mnuchin who was the cheer leader for the extravagant tax cut for top wage earners. He spent his life on Wall Street so he knew that the benefits were going to his pals while he assured the rest of us we would be thrilled with a pittance.
25
My vote: Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
He's really dangerous: He's smart, articulate, well-educated, and just won't give in or give up. He can, and does, argue like a Sophist, the best one money can buy; I'm impressed and almost persuaded sometimes by his rationalizations: They ain't chopped liver. Plus, he's in a position to do the most harm, not just now, but forever; he is perfectly placed and well-armed to succeed in his pro-oil, anti-environmental mission. No one does it better.
So please vote for Scott Pruitt.
Only he can turn America the Beautiful into a hellscape.
God bless Exxon-Mobil.
32
It is a little unfair to pick on Charles Rettig, a totally mainstream pick for IRS Commissioner. Only rich people and companies can afford to pay experienced tax professionals like him. It’s not his fault that the IRS is unresponsive to others. Someone should fix that. I hope the Democrats can question him on that in his confirmation.
7
Wake up, America. (Not you, Wilbur.)
Wilbur Ross can hit our democracy hardest with the falling dominoes of fake census numbers. Time is of the essence. If I must pick only one, let it be him.
16
by sleeping, Wilbur is doing the least harm. They all should take a really long nap.
2
Mr. Lighthizer is not the only cabinet member with "a life-size portrait of himself" decorating his home. I recall reading that Ben Carson has, not only a life-size portrait hanging over the mantle, but a gallery of photos in his home, featuring a painting of Carson with the artist's interpretation of Jesus. http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ben-carson-displays-achievements-portraits-th...
Smaller minds, indeed.
17
Scott Pruitt has done the most damage rolling back regulations meant to protect the environment from corporate greed and by gleefully denying the existence of climate change. He has no excuse for his wanton know nothing anti science position...maybe he did not do well in 6th grade science class and had held a grudge ever since. He must have oil flowing through his veins and a lump of coal where his conscience should be.
20
This is easy. The worst appointment will be the next one.
15
I'm going to have to go with All of the Above. I know it's a bit of a cop out, but I feel that it is appropriate and accurate.
18
Can we add McConnell to the list? Refusing a sitting POTUS his Constitutional right to nominate a Supreme Court Justice tops just about everything you've mentioned. Plus he has so adeptly refined the art of politicizing issues and institutions that our democracy is nearly destroyed by now. Senate can't make a decision on any important topic? McConnell personally deserves much of the credit.
27
Wilbur Ross, though all of them will have effects that will echo far into the future, Ross will affect the next elections by purposely making the census inaccurate. If this happens we will have more than four years of mess to clean up.
10
While they are all pretty bad I've got to vote for "No Sense Pence" who once spent an hour giving an anti-evolution speech in the House of Representatives while our epidemic of antibiotic resistant bacteria (driven by the forces of evolution) continues to spread.
20
What if instead of getting rid of any of them we all just up and leave. We could all take a vacation together. Maybe Barbados? Though I can see where this might cause some logistical problems. Maybe a sit in or a strike. Yes, a national strike. What if everyone, especially the people who drive them places, fly them places, launder their cloths, prepare their meals, clean their dishes, their many homes, what if we all just stop. Be kind of hard to do much harm on their own. They'd hate the isolation, all that power with nothing to kick, and the want of their comforts - which we provide for
them, at an expense to us, while they play and make a mess of things.
11
This is a tough one. I think I'll use one of my life lines and call a friend.
15
That photograph of President Trump’s cabinet members at the State of the Union address is remarkable for the statistical outlier of long red ties represented.
8
I agree it's a hard one but my vote goes to Jarvanka or Sarah Huckaby Sanders. To stand behind the podium day after day and defend Trump has to be the worse job on the planet.
13
She seems to like it. But her family is into fantasy in a big way....
3
In a kakistocracy - government by the worst people - it’s all-but-impossible to pick the WORST of the worst. But given that life depends on a habitable planet - and that the quality of that life depends on the vibrancy or lack thereof of the world around us — my vote is split between Pruitt and Zinke. They are killing us slowly.
16
How about the not mentioned here Ben Carson who runs Housing who ignores warnings from the department’s legal team that it is inappropriate to have his family working for him and getting no-bid contracts from his agency?
11
Since Trump sees the world through a mirror, the reflection of his cabinet, his administration and now his party, is right there.
9
Okay, everybody but ross. His comments on how great the saudis are because there were no protests during tdump's trip puts him in a special category.
5
So difficult..... but after seeing the video of the starving polar bear, I have to go with Pruitt. Followed by Zinke, Sessions, and those masterminds at HHS behind 'religious and conscientious objection' for health care providers and undermining reproductive health care.
14
How can America be made great again, if Planned Parenthood is
defunded.
1
With so many choices, what's missing is a "power factor" measurement, a way of indicating each candidate's potential for horrible actions without much oversight or correction. This is why most people in the White House get a pass. Because Trump is completely incapable of keeping a consistent position on anything, they are mostly ineffective. It's the "secretaries" that have real potential to shine through as truly awful. The two worst: Mnuchin at Treasury, and Scott Pruitt at EPA. Mnuchin will eventually help destroy our financial system as the country's increasing debt will demand leadership he clearly can't supply. Pruitt's contribution won't be fully appreciated for another 50-100 years.
11
Pruitt. If our environment is ruined, which he is aggressively pointed to do, we are all buried!
11
Pruitt wins by a landslide. But you did forget to mention a strong contender, Mick Mulvaney. He is simply appalling.
18
Very wealthy people like Betsy DeVos are used to getting their way. Her frustration in a real-world job is fun to watch.
Trump has a similar problem. He has always been not just "the boss" but the owner of the company. He's a rich kid who never had to grow up. The result is frustration, rage and tantrums. That will continue because he never learned how to work cooperatively with other people to get what he wants. All he knows how to do is bully and pout.
9
Very hard choice as there are so many incompetents in the Gropenfuhrer's administration. I am sure he likes it that way; he doesn't want anyone there who might embarrass him by being actually competent. But I would vote for Ryan Zinke. For me climate change threatens our survival as a species on this planet. So Zinke is trying to make us vanish like the dinosaurs.
9
Well you got what you wanted, a bid’ness Man to run the government like a bid’ness. Fools and liars or just plain ignoran which seems to be the American excuse for civilization.
Personally makes me sick, the bragging, the lieing, the self righteousness.
Just because you have too many lethal toys to play with doesn’t mean you have any virtue. This list of predators you can have as your governance. But leave the rest of us out of your internal racism, misogyny, and megalomania ‘the greatest nation in the history of the world, not.
5
How could you leave out Rick Perry?
7
Steven Miller?
8
How about Mr. Oops from Texas, now in charge of the department he couldn't remember to name as one to get rid of -- and his utter surprise when he discovered that department is also in charge of our nu-q-lar weapons.
12
Sorry Gail, I still vote for Sessions as the worst.
8
I vote for Hopie Hicks --fir her own sake; Donald Trump for the sake of our country!
6
tie between Scott Pruitt and Ryan Zinke
6
Trump himself should go!
7
“Minions” makes me think of the cute characters in the movie Despicable Me. How about “sycophants” or “sickophants”. When Steve Mnuchin said Trump had “perfect genes”, I briefly considered projectile vomiting but managed restraint. After listening to several press briefings from Sarah Huckabee Sanders, she has tied Kellyanne Conway for the gag reflex. You know that stench you smell while following an old smoking diesel pickup truck?....that reminds me of Scott Pruitt’s leadership at the EPA. OK OK, I’ll vote for Ryan Zinke. Anyone that would open up nearly all of our coastline (especially my gorgeous West Coast) to offshore oil drilling is Darth Vader in the minion kakistocracy.
9
my plumber told me this--"--it flows downhill"--so we should start at the top of the hill
22
All of them...especially Pruitt!
9
Sarah Huckabee Sanders by a country mile! Here’s a quote from, for my money, the Queen of the Deplorables:
If Hillary Clinton had won the election, which, thank God she didn't, but if she had... she would have fired Comey immediately.
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/sarah_huckabee_sanders_843498
9
Me. I want to go away.
10
Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Steve Bannon, Betsy Devos, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Kellyanne Conway, Steve Mnuchin, Stephen Miller, “Judge” Roy Moore, Mike Pence, Tom Price, Scott Pruitt, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Jeff Sessions, Roger Stone?
The worst of the lot?
I’m opening the envelope …
And the winner is ...
Kellyanne Conway.
I once took a class in comparative anatomy and ever since that time I’ve been inclined to keep my distance from lampreys.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamprey#/media/File:Boca_de_lamprea.1_-_Aq...
18
Mike Pence knows how to ride a horse? Does his wife Kare, never far from his side, ride with him? On the same horse?
9
He can only ride male horses -- wait, that doesn't work for him either!
10
Haiku
Standing by her man,
Hope Hicks will not be deterred;
Loves Jekyll and Hyde.
8
So much for hiring the best and draining the swamp. The lot of them stink and are the worst this country has to offer.
11
Excuse me I wasn't paying attention... was the Robert Mugabe's cabinet you were talking about?
13
The worst Trump minion? Ivanka.
9
But you forgot KellyAnne! Who appears set to ban anyone with an iota of knowledge about opiods from helping to stop this epidemic.
8
Pruitt, hands-down. They're all a bunch of nepotistic thugs but he's done more to destroy years of progress than the rest combined.
11
So Rick Perry, the smart one, gets a pass?
9
Gail,
Let’s get rid of the whole lot,
Picking the loser from the rot?
We would be splitting hairs.
Which one to declare
Is worth the pain
In the you know where?
4
Did we forget Steve Miller? The Iago of the White House?
So many Shakespearean villains here.
The current presidency: "a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing."
15
If Trump/Pence go, so goes the whole motley crew. Cut off the head of the venomous snake.
11
Exactly right: Trump/Pence are only there because the election was stolen.
7
All are in a tie for last place. Just simply the most miserable, corrupt and inept crew that has ever occupied the Executive Branch. But it all starts with the most inept and corrupt fool of them all---Trump.--He's definitely sewn up the title of "Worst President Ever".
"Only the best people"---indeed
12
Trump is the worst in the present administration because a dead fish rots from the head down. Something's rotten in Washington; the stench from the undrained Potomac swamp is overwhelming.
10
We now return to As the White House Churns....
Yesterday, Hope said "oh I love him so much, he is the greatest president of all time" while hot in the arms of her lover Rob (or was that Cory?). Just thinking of him makes me hot with desire for a WALL!
The camera pans to see her boss GENERAL Kelly smirking in the corner thinking "Oh boy, 50 shades of Illegals!" and saying to himself "that Rob sure packs punch with the ladies, doesn't he?"
Meanwhile, out of the office we here "Hope get in here! Where's my Filet o' Fish, fries and milk shake?" She turns to Rob and says "I gotta go."
12
Oh and who would bet even $5 that Trump has not been abusive to any of his 60 wives? I was going to say the man is a pig but he hasn't ever achieved "man" status.
5
Pence --just waiting in the wings..............
7
Definitely has to be Scott Pruitt. He's a menace to the environment.
5
Zinke, hands down.
5
Life's not fair Gail. I'm going with "everybody".
5
Scott Pruit in a tight race.
6
Where's blustering Ben Carson. You never hear about him as presumably he naps during the day.
4
Although it is hard to pin it down to one Biggest Loser (I am fairly certain that every financial adviser we have is working to tank the economy again) my vote goes to.....drum roll please....
The idiot in FEMA who hired a local caterer to provide 30M meals for Puerto Ricans who were in desperate need of food and water. Not unlike the company made up of two guys from Ryan Zinke's hometown who were hired to restore power to the entire island, our caterer turned out to be sadly unprepared. Since the buck stops at the top, the FEMA director gets my vote. Also, the guys's name is Brock and that is a Chip, Skip and Biff sorta name that just doesn't bode well. The unwell boding was right on the money.
So, haul out the trophies, and carve Biff,,,,uh, Brock... on one. Keeping people in the dark, hungry and without clean water for months is quite an achievement. Hiring someone who normally throws big parties to feed them is clueless at a Marie Antoinette level. Kudos.
10
My vote goes to Foreign and Domestic Policy Advisor Sean Hannity. His paycheck my come from Rupert Murdoch but his entire job entails telling our President what he should do. The fawning and sycophantic praise coming from his mouth far exceeds the other Cabinet Members and even Orin Hatch.
Hannity lays on the smarmy compliments so thick he makes oil spills look wimpy.
What I can't stand about this particular idiot is the fact that he actively encourages Trump to be his worst on a daily basis. Pruitt or Zinke don't call every day. Hannity is there day after day with his revolting praise. Hannity asks/tells Trump to disparage, deny, exclude, denigrate, defame, lie, cheat.
Hannity promotes Trump's racism, bigotry, meaness, cruelty and deceit.
All this while also reinforcing Trump's ego as the greatest man who has ever lived on earth. They share chocolate cake. Just disgusting and pitiful.
12
Hope Hicks--for her own sake; DJT for the sake of all the rest of us!
5
No fair saying no fair to choosing all of them as the worst, Gail. It really is a toss-up, as they each try to outdo their boss. Perhaps not the worst, but truly the slimiest of them all is the Mnuchin and his super-doll, whose hairstyle doesn't so much say "come hither" (shudder), but shouts "Let them eat cake!"
4
I’d rather see the muppets take charge of the WH than this sad and sorry bunch of underperformers hand-selected by the underperformer-in-chief.
4
It's a tie between Zinke and Pruitt, with the rest all earning a dishonorable mention.
4
Norway is majority white, but the Sami people face harassment and discrimination: http://www.newsinenglish.no/2016/03/24/sami-still-battling-discrimination/
Why does Mr Trump like Norway, again?
1
I nominate Rick Perry. Just because he's Rick Perry.
4
You forgot to mention the fabled WH cuisine, and chef McDonalds!
3
Take knee, Mike Pence
5
Zinke and Mnuchin. And the Kushners.
5
Who is the worst ? Boy, now that's a question that will keep me up nights. How about a Troika of Pruitt, Zinke & Sessions ? The rest are all disgusting swamp creatures but I think these three are doing the most long term damage to our country.
3
Pruitt- because of him and his rising global temperatures we all die, the poorest first but it is my hope that the rich suffer also- what a grand tragedy to be written! the Human Race destroys itself!
2
I vote for Trump's "employees" outside the White House, namely his deplorable base.
They are the worst minions and the real reason this country is in trouble.
9
yeah yeah yeah, just remember that one-third of the country think this is all just great. that's the real food for thought. How is that even possible? we must be the dumbest country in the world. Time for us all to watch "Idiocracy" again..
4
Poins, add to that, the fact that some 50% of our population believes in ghosts...
2
Steven Miller. Do I need to explain?
18
A fish rots from the head.
Cutting the fins off does little to staunch the stench, though the rot of each fin is unique in its own way. Still, dissection of the extremities won't reduce the smell.
It's a stinky fish with a fishy stink.
16
Mick Mulvaney gets my vote - so adept at lying. As my late father would say - he's the type that would take your blood & say you look better without it.
17
This is an incredibly challenging competition. There are so many contestants for ineptitude, corruption, or arrogance. To make it easier, I am excluding cabinet members. I don’t see them as measly minions (such a delicious word). Pruitt would be my choice there for his sheer awfulness.
I think the outstanding minion award goes to Stephen Miller. HIs oleaginous and condescending presentation of self matches his dangerous attitudes. Really, when’s was the last time a WH staffer drew so many nazi references? Being likened to a Nazi is unfailingly pejorative and gives him unfair advantage in this competition.
17
Well, at the top of the list would be the man he chose as Vice President - Pence. But then he IS the top "yes man" for the head Brute.............a job he fits to a T.
10
Ypu forgot Ben Carson, HUD secretary!
9
My vote: Scott Pruitt
7
Impossible task. They are all criminals, having committed a variety of crimes against the United States of America. Most of them should be locked up, either in prison, or a rubber room, just like their boss.
10
Excellent article with a difficult assignment to pick the worst GOP official or apparatchik for removal. You hold that it would be unfair to select everyone, so you limit our selection to only one deplorable Republican.
But Gail, life is inherently unfair so I must disregard your instruction to winnow only one from the Republican multitudes and must insist that the proper answer is to say that all Republicans, every last bought an paid for incompetent, unread, ignorant, self-serving grifter ant knave in all branches of government, at every level from local dogcatcher to congressional apparatchik, should be given the heave ho.
In light of their disregard and contempt shown by the Putin endorsed GOP for all American citizens born outside the monied environs of the Koch brothers’ inherited world of wealth and privilege a clean sweep in the coming 2018 elections would be the truly fair way to choose among these worthy deplorable.
12
Stephen Miller
12
Twice this week I've seen a headline that more or less reads, "White House Aide Accused of Domestic Violence" and I immediately hope it is Stephen Miller. Then I realize what a crazy statement that is, because it is impossible to conceive of any woman who is desperate enough to get into a relationship with Miller.
6
Jeff Sessions get my vote. He is the chief legal officer of the United States, and the most powerful member mentioned. He seems part of that Christian Coalition that believes in racism. He seems especially virulent in his support for the death penalty. Above all, I think he knows where skeletons are buried. And just as an aside, he is the one of this group who most looks like a member of Slithering. I just cant imagine how he could be friends with Al Franken.
12
I'd select James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Rod Rosenstein as the deep state's worst minions. Or aren't we allowed to even mention FISA-gate?
Scott Pruitt and his phone booth
12
The worst person in Trump’s cabinet is the one who has been most effective: Vladimir Putin
18
You always leave poor Rick Perry off - but maybe it is because he can't remember what agency he is in charge of.
Surprise! Turns out it is stewardship of the nation's nukes.
12
Ben Carson
6
Still Pruitt he has the longest reach and the least compassion
5
This is kind of like a fantasy baseball pick of team members to bench. Ok, I am in. Here is my vote for the ghost of Roy Cohn, co-pilot.
11
When the cesspool is overflowing it must be emptied and scrubbed completely !
8
Pruitt. He’s too close to competent.
8
Okay then....All Of Them! Didn’t say everybody! { : > )
2
But Gail, these are all the “best” people. Trump told us so.
I’d consider Mnuchin and his revolting wife, just because I can’t read his name as anything but Munchin, which leads me to our own Keebler elf, Sessions, that loathesome racist. But like so many others, I have to go with Pruitt, as he could actually kill the planet. No wonder he hides inside his cone and surrounds himself with security. No doubt he gets what a target he is.
13
Pruitt.
Because he is evil.
7
How about cutting off the head of the snake?
4
The fish stinks from the head.
6
I'm for Mnuchin but I'm sure the replacement would be just as utterly incompetent; next is Ross but I'm sure the replacement would be just as utterly corrupt.--By the way, shouldn't the census be in Interior & not in Commerce?--but that brings me to my 3rd, Zinke, both corrupt & incompetent but with only the public lands to pillage--& oh yes, Puerto Rico. Him, his hoss, & his Boy Scout uniform--love to see them ride off into the sunset--but preferably off a cliff.
5
Select the worst minion to the President ? Easy.
All those that voted for him in the first place and continue to support him.
( especially in the #metoo movement whereas the man ADMITTED ON TAPE to multiple sexual assaults on women )
Perhaps the press is complicit in this as well, since every single question every single day should be to him ( and those around him ~ @ the daily pressers ) as to why he should not be held accountable when so many others are ? (even in his own administration)
6
To me it's a tossup between Mick Mulvaney for his efforts in protecting the predatory payroll loan industry and Stephan Miller who fashions himself as a latter day William F. Buckley, but alas has neither the wit nor the vocabulary.
6
Steven Miller. In another decade he would be in charge of the Grandest Concentration Camp. Or Scott Pritt killing the envirnment with mining.
5
Mike Pence.
6
Mike Pence
5
Though there is plenty that is stinky
About private flights for Ryan Zinke
And our noses detect something smelly
When we hear the endless lies from Gen. Kelly
And there is worse about sleepy Ross
He may have laundered money for his boss
You can guess that when they lunch in
Investment advice flows from Sec. Mnuchin
Shady schools rip off honorable vets
Their profits are shared with EdSec Bets
Kids will suffer since on the climate we blew it
But by then we'll be dead along with Scott Pruitt
Columnist Gail is usually more insightful
Warning about what is most frightful
But in this column she sat on her tushy
And left out Princess Ivanka and slippery Kushy
10
Scott Pruitt is the worst. We only have one earth.
4
How Kellyanne Conway claimning that there are"alternative facts"? Yeah, it's called fiction!
2
Tillerson
1
Pruitt=Zinke>Ross>Mnuchin>DeVos>Sessions>Lighthizer>Azar>Nielsen
But they are all sickening along with all the other Trump aiders and abettors. Their mass destruction of our country, hand in hand with Trump, will take decades to repair.
2
John Kelly
2
It's a tie. They're all horrible. How can you choose DeVos over Mnuchin, over Zinke, over Mulvaney, on and on...The Trump administration is a nest of incompetent, lying vipers, the worst, in probably the country's history.
4
Am I being contrary? Desperate? Idiot fatigued? But I'm thinking how remarkable that Don McGahn actually threatened to quit if Trump fired Mueller - imagine that, an act of apparent decency and courage. Right there in the Trump White House.
2
Everything starts with the terrible employee at the top, "hired" by stupid, uneducated Deplorables who can't get their act together and have to blame someone else for their troubles.
3
Trump is Trump's worst minion. He won't release his tax returns because he has something to hide. Refusing to release the Democrats' rebuttal to the piece of garbage Nunes produced means Trump has something to hide. An innocent man would let it clear him, so Trump must be guilty.
Explain to me again, why does Trump--who is under the investigation discussed by the Democratic memo--have any say at all in whether the Democratic memo is released?
3
I'm hoping for Colony Collapse Disorder at the White House. The queen bee, Hope Hicks, might be the undoing of them all. Go queen.
4
Pruitt, Miller, lying Sanders
3
Winner has to be Pruitt -- when even the wealthy and the white are drinking poisoned water and eating plastic in 30 years, they'll have him to thank.
6
Whoever picked the gold drapes in the Oval Office.
4
That was most likely POTUS. He's in his element picking drapes.
2
I vote for Zinke-
2
After her lauding Hope Hicks, I vote Ivanka is the most disgusting, and she will never be fired by Daddy Dearest.
4
Everybody.
4
Everybody.
5
Toss up between Pruitt and DeVos.
3
Trump? I want him to go away - then all these petti-monsters will have to leave too ...
3
Javanka.
4
Ryan Zinke
2
Pruitt
5
Ryan Zinke
9
Easy. Roy Cohn-wannabe Stephen Miller.
22
It has to be Pence who I think is really a bot from Russia.
35
Or...maybe that was the idea all along! There was no way Pence could get elected. so have him be VP for a person who would likely be thrown out of office (or quit, though I can't see Trump doing that) before his first term is up...and then, badaboom badabing, the arch-conservatives get what they wanted from the outset. And I *have* heard this theory floated elsewhere.
Face it, this would explain quite a lot...
2
Everyone must go
10
This is all Obama’s fault. He went eight years without employing a single domestic abuser. This is Trump’s affirmative action plan for incompetent white guys with chips on their shoulders (plus Omarosa).
59
An embarrassment of (um) riches. Pressed to choose, mark my ballot for Stevie Minuchin
1
Tough one! So many reprehensibly juicy choices. Can we do a Win, Place and Show for no skill? Or a Trifecta of ineptitude? Pruit for the Win. We’ll be wearing gas masks before long in decimated national parks. Huckabee for Place. She shows no shred of honesty, just bald-faced lying. And for Show, I’ll go with Azar. I worked at Lilly when he there. A true suit if there ever was one and who will never ever lower drug prices in anyone’s lifetime. The Trifecta Win goes, of course, to Trump, who saddled up these clowns. So, I’m looking for my big payout at the voting booth track in 2018 and 2022.
82
Ms. Collins, Trump has an excuse! No one but deluded Trump voters thought a man who had only run a family business knew how to hire the "best and the brightest" talent. Once he discovered he didn't have enough children to fill all the jobs and Jared couldn't pass the security clearance test, Trump had no clue about who to hire. So he turned to the very fine people he knew through business. Amazingly they often had the same character flaws he does.
My vote goes to Scott Puritt who is trashing our planet. A close second is Betsy DeVos who seems not to be as effective at denying all of our children access to a quality education.
33
Lynda - all true, except Trump didnt know most if any ofthese guys. (few women) He was intro'd to them by GOP insiders. Like Sessions. like Priebus- those two intro'd him to many GOP regulars, and donors. Or they came and courted Trump. Like Tillerson, like Pruitt. They saw a guy who knew zilch about Washington, and politics in general, and knew if they could say the right things ("destroy all that came before!" or "with Obama's name on it!") and kiss his ring the right way, they'd get in.
These guys were the ones, or types. Trump always wanted to pal around with, but in the normal course of events rebuffed him. Or only knew him in passing at various functions where Trump might appear. (little known fact about Trump. He'd show up at various high-profile events, breeze thru the crowd, not shaking hands as he is a germ phobe, then make a hasty exit. He didn't hang-out and smooze, he appeared, then left. As such he never made real "friends".)
1
I would like to add to the list. My votes would be for McConnell and the Senate who voted to appoint these Cabinet Members in the first place. Session lied at his hearing and most of the rest could not answer questions concerning the Departments they were about to head up.
39
Pruitt is the winner. Given his environmental destruction, he is an existential threat. I would love nothing more than to see him jailed for the rest of his life for crimes against humanity.
39
You have really missed with this column. I count on you to give a me a laugh. This one brought me to tears.
11
I can't help it, Ms. Collins — it is all of them. Trump and his sycophants make up the worst administration of my lifetime. Rotten eggs. Can't they all just go away, far away? Pile them into Elon Musk's next space-bound car or put them on a melting ice floe in the Arctic Ocean to debate climate change, either works for me. The universe may never forgive us if we do launch them out there, but we Earthlings will sleep better.
27
Put 'em in low orbit, then watch them burn up on re-entry.
3
Not on your list, but on the top of mine
Steven Miller. He never speaks without being infuriating. Aren't you glad you don't know him? I know he's not on the cabinet. I just wanted to complain about him.
40
Hands down, it would be Stephen Miller for me (although lordy, it's hard to choose.) He may not seem to be of any importance, but he's daily whispering in Trump's ear and his fingerprints are all over any immigration 'reform.'
30
If we’re picking “Minions,” where are the Trump kids and Jared? Where is Steven Miller? I recognize the list of inept evildoers is exhaustive, but I’m torn between Jared and Miller.
25
We focus so much on Trump that it is easy to forget that his appointments across the board are the "D" team - at best. There is not a single cabinet appointment that would get a "B" when judged against the the appointments of preceding Republican presidents. While many Republican appointments have been pilloried for the decisions that they made or the positions that they took (e.g., Kissinger), few were described as being in way over the heads. The overall class of appointments is the biggest story of this administration. This is where the real work gets done - not embarrassing tweets from a under-developed president.
19
Perhaps there has been a worse cabinet in history, but certainly not in the modern era where even Nixon, who took many with him when he sank and had a devastating affect on the Vietnam War, had enough competent people around him that the country and the environment, which he actually cared about, survived without an inordinate amount of damage to the entire citizenry.
I think it should be noted that in the end a staff and cabinet reflect the will and whim of the president and his party, whose members have a great deal of influence, even more so in Trump's case where they have a majority. Consequently I don't think it's a mystery that the majority of this president's choices rate somewhere between abysmal and downright hostile to the purpose of the domains they oversee. Try as I might I cannot find a redeeming feature in Trump's personality or positive result of his presidency thus far except in trends that began with Obama.
So, when after much inner wrestling, I choose Pruitt, Zinke and Sessions in that order, it's because they appear to be the most efficient wrecking machines in a lot full of them revved up for annihilation of our democracy and resources.
16
This administration is an example of how "organized crime can infiltrate the highest offices of the land. Though there are recent comparisons to The Gilded Age, the fact is, America has been experiencing another Gilded age at least as far back as the Bush43 tax cut scheme.
Along with the team Gail has assembled herein, I am deeply troubled by John Kelly's participation in White House management. He was supposed to put some sanity into the mix. If that is true, are we to assume things in the Trump administration could have been a whole lot worst than it is now?!?!
7
Jared and Ivanka Kushner are family and minions so they play duel roles, with no security clearances or experience. Sarah Huckabee Sanders needs to be included in the election. Steve Miller can't be left out. Trump selected Pence as Vice President and his parade of spiritual advisers in the West Wing should be in the running. Thinking about this I realize cleaning the garage would be more productive for my mental health.
15
Pruitt. Secure phone booth in the office should be grounds for removal from the position. I hope some democratic wonks are taking careful notes about all of the things that ought to be codified as illegal by the next democratic congress.
10
Fun fact about HHS (checked Wikipedia):
5 individuals have served as Secretary or acting Secretary of Heath and Human Services since Trump's election.
Same total number (in 13 months) as that for the last 3 presidents (24 years). Does the Trump WH possibly have trouble with retention? The available labor pool seems to be thin.
7
All of this sounds like the plot of an outlandish t.v. drama/sitcom (if it were actually fiction some of it might be funny). Maybe this is what should be expected we have a reality t.v. personality for president.
6
It has got to be Scott, he is doing the most actual damage.
9
Regarding reports of John Kelly being willing to "fall on his sword" because of the Rob Porter debacle. If I were Kelly, I would gladly seize any excuse to escape that madhouse.
Regarding the worst, I'd have to choose Ryan Zinke and Scott Pruitt. Their damage could be irreversible. I am mortified that Zinke used to be a University of Oregon Duck.
10
You didn’t list Tillerson, but for sheer size of institutional destruction, it will be hard to top his dismantling of the State Department.
10
I've said it before, I'll say it again: "First class men hire first class men, second class men hire third class men."
When you get down to a hirer of Trump's class, who knows what you're liable to get.
(By the way, I apologize for the slightly sexist slant of that quote. I don't know who originated it, but it dates from a long time ago when such wording was the norm. I honestly can't remember who I'm quoting here. Can anyone help me out?)
11
Two faced Paul Ryan by a mile. He took a big whiff of the stench emanating from the White House and, after a few faint squeaks of protest, decided it smelled pretty good after all. He continues to pretend to take mild offense but remember, he's the power behind Devin Nunes. He's also the supposed head of our government's "checks and balances" department but he's become just another Trump minion.
16
Well Gail, you've given us quite the cast of characters. But I choose the people who voted for him and put him in office. Special recognition goes to the white working class and a majority of women voters who chose Trump. The jokes on them, US democracy and the punch line the US has become in the world.
9
Sadly and frighteningly, this is not an easy choice to make. There are so many candidates that it is very difficult to pick just one. But I will go with Pruitt, because I worry that the harm he is doing to the EPA and the environment cannot be reversed.
Right behind Pruitt are Sessions, Zinke, Pence, Sanders...
In Congress, the hypocritical Republicans led by McConnell and Ryan.
7
Zinke. (Auto-correct changed his name to Sinker - also accurate.) He has the potential to do the most irreparable damage to the country.
4
Sorry, it is ALL of them -- they all lied when they took an oath of office to support the Constitution and laws of the United States.
They have no respect for the laws and do their utmost to defeat the very purposes and goals of the agencies which they head.
8
This is a tough one. So many choices. But I go for Scott Pruitt and Zinke, he's a close second.
1
Why do we even know the names of these people? I am having trouble even remembering who their counterparts were in the quietly competent, scandal free Obama administration.
4
I vote for Scott Pruitt. He is doing real damage to environmental regulations and therefore to the environment. This is no surprise because as AG for Oklahoma and with close ties to the oil industry he waged war against the EPA. Mnunchin is my runner-up for his obnoxious flaunting of his wealth, with an assist from his wife. Minions may come and go but we still have Trump to endure for 3 more years.
3
I hate to pick on a recent arrival, but HHS controls the funding for the CDC, and a potential pandemic trumps everything ... even the Trumpster himself. So I vote for (against?) Azar, as clueless as he may be at the moment.
3
I'd most like to see Trump disappear. He should lose his job for many reasons, but the best approach might be to get him for violateing security procedures by giving someone who didn't have security clearance access to classified documents. FIRE TRUMP.
7
ineptitude is rampant and to anyone who has not been asleep for decades, it resides in our electeds, the congress of k-street chore boys and girls (look at them just yesterday, posing as the cavalry, saving us from a problem they created).
trump is no better or worse, alas, than any other recent presidential begetter of flawed minions, he is only the least adept at concealing it.
"Just this week we had a top aide with multiple domestic abuse allegations, plus a chief of staff who never seemed to bother to pursue the matter," and just last week, which you fail to mention, we had the winner of the popular vote, who actually did "bother to pursue the matter" of
sexual misconduct on her own staff, offering comfort and aid to her guy.
incompetence is epidemic as long as washington is the land of opportunity for gamers who see it as the first stop on the gravy train.
look at the lot, recent history, just since ww2 offers legions, from ike's veep, alben barkley, through the nixon gang, clinton's cronies, bush's "brownies" obama's...stay tuned, but his budget advisors will do while we wait for the rest...and, of course trump's co-clowns.
easy to gripe but is there any hope for reform?
YES, it says here and it starts with term limits, ONE per customer, federally funded votes, no re-elections, no fundraising, no careers...the bet here is that a better class of candidate will emerge, those who want to serve and are willing to suspend careers to do so...citizen legislators.
2
I have to agree with commentaries about Pruitt. The havoc he is causing is the most damaging to human life and will be the most difficult to recover from.
3
It is the majority of White Men who are the minions, a new 2018 poll shows, among the registered white, male voters surveyed, 58 percent said they would vote Republican in the 2018 midterm elections and only 34 percent said they would vote Democrat.
2
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is gradually turning the Department of State into a one-man office, his, before quitting.
3
Trump sure knows how to pick them - Scaramucci, Gorka, Priebus, Spicer, Conway, Huckabee Sanders, Hicks, De Vos, Porter, Kelly, Sorenson, Price, Sessions and Mc Gahn to name a few.
11
Sorry, please add Flynn, Bannon, Gates and Omarosa to the list!
I still remember when Mnuchin and Trump were walking to (I guess the White House) and Mnuchin was at least five yards behind Trump while Trump barked his usual dissembling to reporters. Mnuchin stood and smiled as if he'd just been handed the keys to the kingdom. Mnuchin is sycophantic to a fault and a terrible, terrible liar. Thanks to him, we'll all be able to file our income tax on a post card!
6
Ms. Collins, they're all pretty bad, but I'll go with Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She gives a great imitation of Katrina Pierson and Scottie Nell Hughes during her Fox News White House briefings.
7
It's like reruns of "The Biggest Loser," presided over by The Apprentice.
5
As a non-US resident, I go for Pruitt as the most direct threat to us. But what a rogues (and rogue's) gallery it is. Nauseating.
7
I’m laughing to keep from crying.
4
She left out Rick Perry. Again. What's a guy have to do to make the list?
9
Scott Pruitt, without a doubt. If we (the human race, collectively) don't do something soon, there might not be a human race!
4
I missed the news when Kirstjen Nielsen, whose name drips of Scandinavianness, didn't know whether the population of Norway is predominantly white. Very disingenuous!
6
You forgot Ben Carson secretary of HUD. To refresh your memory: he's that guy who was trotted out for the photo op celebrating Black history month. No one knows what he's been doing since he began the position last year.
8
"Obviously, the real blame falls on Trump...." Just let it go with that.
4
I am sickened by the stories of Trump’s sycophants. It becomes more difficult every day to read about the dirty work they willingly do for this seriously flawed man. Where are the leaders of the Democratic Party? Talking on and on about DACA and totally skirting the most critical problem of our time.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting that DACA isn’t important; I am saying that when the house is burning down, you don’t prioritize plumbing problems.
Our democracy is in serious trouble. The Republican Party has abdicated all appearance and substance of a serious governing party. Senate and House Dems—“Tag—You’re It!!” Speak out! Get in front of every television camera you can. Speak the truth! Stay on topic. Don’t muddy the water with all the other issues that should be addressed.
If you allow our democracy to be killed by this group lacking any evidence of moral compass—there is no chance that other extremely important issues can be resolved. Millions of Americans are depending on you! SOS.
7
I vote for Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education. You know, the woman who has no college degree in education!
Teachers, how does that make you feel after going into great school debt to get your masters and other certifications in your educational field?
Parents of public school children, how does that make you feel? Someone at the top loving Jesus and those private school vouchers so much, that you as taxpayers are paying for defunding of your kids’ public schools?
And of course, families of school girls who have been assaulted, how does it make you feel that Betsy is making it easier for the assaulters? Me too?
This is the Donald Trump dumbing of America. Good choice to do that with DeVos, Donald. Next she’ll be bringing back Trump University and giving tax breaks and vouchers to attend!
8
Ben Carson wins for never exhibiting an awareness of anything.
6
My choices aren’t cabinet secretaries. They are named Jared, Ivanka, and Don Jr.
Can someone donate some designer hosiery to stuff in their mouths?
6
"Does every terrible employee in America work for the Trump White House?"
No, but every employee working for the Trump White House is terrible.
9
What about a former Secretary of State whose husband earned $500000 for a speech in Moscow white she was ruling on whether it was ok for Russia to get a portion of our Uranium reserves? She had to be the most corrupt with her pay to play demands. How many countries are still giving money to her foundation now that she is out of power? Oh wait, you said this administration? I don’t think anyone has been that corrupt.
To add to Jeff Session's resume. This week he was in Florida and one of his solutions to dealing with the opiate crisis is to encourage opiate users to take aspirin instead. It reminded me so much of Nancy Reagan's Just Say No To Drugs campaign.
4
I'm all in for Scott Pruitt. Forget about having to do entitlement reform, we won't need it. His policies mean we're all going to be poisoned to death.
3
Machiavelli noted that, "when looking for conspiracy first look for incompetence."
Were he alive today he would probably add greed and narcissism. Not sure whether to laugh or cry at the current crop of creatures making up a new stench filled swamp.
2
Scott Pruitt. He will do the most damage to the earth in the long run.
2
We are living in a kakistocracy.
2
Are you sure we can't answer "everybody?" Because a strong case could be made for that answer. I guess I'll have to go with Pruitt b/c of his sheer level of evil.
5
Is it acceptable to vote for Fox & Friends? If so, they would be my first, second and third choices. Hannity should be the first choice, but the way he segues to car chases left me underwhelmed.
2
The worst are his 62 million voters and the entire GOP who support him BEFORE country.
10
Since it is tax season for those poor fools like us who actually pay taxes, Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin should be nominated.
However, nothing is more important than our home, planet Earth, so a dual nomination for Scott Pruitt of the Environmental Protection Agency and Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke.
Both are hellbent on killing the planet and the animals on land and sea we share it with. Short term profit = long term disaster
2
Pruitt gets my vote as the worst, because he's been the most effective.
Dan Kravitz
2
Pruitt, hands down. They are all horrible, but his destructive attacks on the environment will have the broadest and longest lasting consequences.
2
in the photo...
who is the one in the blue tie?
its almost a felony in this crowd.
probably fired by now or at least under indictment.
2
Ouch ! Please make it stop. This behavior is embarrassing , immoral and profoundly corrupt. My choice is obvious, A G Sessions perjured himself . Hopefully the standard of law is firm and justice prevails.
1
Has it occurred to anyone how demoralizing and shameful it is to even be having this discussion? Every individual who works with/for Trump is a willing participant in the deliberate dismantling of our government institutions and our very way of life. This country is ALREADY unrecognizable after 1 year of this clown show. Imagine what it's going to look like a year from now, or 10... Congress is voluntarily enabling it. They have sold out this country for the power they think they are gathering as a result of this train wreck called Trump, who, bye-the-way, will dismantle their institution when this is all over. It doesn't matter who is worse. What matters is the coup occurring before our eyes and we are still debating such nonsense.
5
Pruitt, hands down. He is destroying the present and the future, possibly to a point of no return.
2
Trump will soon have a conference table like Dr Evil. He'll push a button and the selected minion will fall into the burning cavern below.
2
Couldn't decide between Pruitt and Zinke, tossed a coin...and it's Pruitt by a head! Not simply for sheer awfulness but for the trouble we'll have undoing his decisions.
2
As much as Betsy DeVos irritates me, her ineptitude and "the bureaucracy" she finds herself up against seem to be holding her at bay for the moment. So I'm going to go with Scott Pruitt. The level of smugness and evil he brings to his efforts to destroy our planet are cartoonesque. If only it were a cartoon world, and not the real one, that he seems hellbent on destroying. I'd send him back to the private sector, pronto, if I could.
2
Jared Kushner by a million, billion miles.
2
Actually, I take back my former vote for Stephen Miller and nominate Paul Ryan as Trump's Worst Minion. Overall, he's doing the worst damage for our country.
3
Gail,
You forgot:
Rick Ops Perry. He's promoting testy sweet cheap coal everywhere.
Linda McMahon. She's busy supporting retired WWE entrepreneurs starting new gigs.
Nikki Haley. Polishing her resume with belligerent speeches everywhere.
Elaine Chao. Does anyone know what she's doing exactly?
Ben Carson.Taking his clues from The Great Leader, he appointed his son @HUD.
3
To me it’s a tie between Stephen Miller and Kellyanne Conway.
11
Gail. The worst is the top person. Donald is by far the worst. Accountability starts at the top . And, we all know the man had no courage. When he fails, others get the blame. All of your nominees will be thrown under the Trump bus sooner or later.
5
Thanks, Gail! Your humor may help us hang on and see this through.
The White House goon squad is a reminder of a truth that our most talented authors know: It's easier to write fiction than to write true-life because fiction is more plausible.
The Trump clown car would win the Trophy for Ridiculous at any festival anywhere. The King of the Fools parading out front, leading the monkeys. Running wild and nary an organ grinder in sight!
5
A rogues gallery indeed, Gail. Next please do the same for the GOP Congress of venal lackeys and, to shorten the list, we could focus upon the puppeteers pulling their strings: the Mercers, the Koch bros, the Wilks bros, Adelson, and the rest of the cabal of Theocrats out to demolish Democracy.
5
I vote Rick (Glasses) Perry. He couldn't remember the name of the very institution he is head of during the GOP 'debates'. And let's not forget (or maybe we should) Ben (Pyramids) Carson, renowned pediatric surgeon, Apocalyptic dead-ender, and head of HUD, who recognized his lack of qualifications for the post he holds, but took the position anyway. My head would explode if I had to go into the case of the Mooch...
5
Seriously, how could you leave out Ben Carson? He's got to be among the top 3 for incompetence.
3
Why isn't Jareed Kushner on this list? I think Gail Collins put her thumb on the scale by omitting him. She knew that Super Jareed would sweep the polls and voters would ignore the others. Rigged election!
5
Can you make an exception and let me vote for ALL of them?
Thank you for your support!
6
It would take me about 5 minutes to name just 10 Obama appointees and just 10 seconds to name 10 of trumps. Wonder who is actually working for their paychecks?
Must See TV - "White House Apprentice: Season Two", where we discover that the boss’s most trusted staff have the same proclivities toward domestic violence as he does. Who knew? And who will the volatile Chief Executive fire next? His long suffering Chief of Staff? His alluring Communications Director? His daffy but sinister senior advisors? And what of his formidable nemesis, the talented and persistent Robert Mueller? This promises to be the most watched television since Celebrity Big Brother with Omarosa Manigault. Stay tuned!
Advertisers are giddy, as antidepressants and gun sales are on the upswing, with bunker prepping a growth industry! Governmental dysfunction is at an all time high. People can’t get enough of the drama. Things haven’t been this exciting since the Vietnam War!
How I long for the boredom of good governance.
5
I think it is Kellyanne Conway for trying to lead the attack on the opioid crisis without even consulting Taylor Weyeneth, the one-time 24-year-old deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Policy or anybody else in that office. But maybe there isn't anybody in that office.
1
This is a tough call. Reminds me of the legions of CREEPs (Nixon's cabinet and staff in 1973-74 who were members of the infamous Committee to Re-Elect the President in 1972). But my vote goes for Scott Pruitt for shear nastiness.
3
Well, you've forgotten Mr Mike Hear no evil, See no evil, ... Pence who has the uncanny ability to always be in the picture but never aware of any problem, but ok; we'll chose from the ones presented. As you've said, all are bad, but only a few are ostentatiously bad, willing to make decisions that smack people in their face with greed, feigned ignorance, and maliciousnous. Under those criteria, Mr Scott Polluting Pruitt gets my vote. His record speaks for itself.
5
So many to choose from, but I'll go for Pruitt.
3
How does one differentiate between the contents of a cesspool? Yes, that's what the Trump White House is--a rancid depository of a collection of misfits and losers unequaled in my long lifetime. Our agencies of Federal governance are now led mostly by people who have long histories of promoting the opposite of what their department is out to accomplish.
I resent Trump and his 'people' occupying the White House. I resent these incompetents making policy for Americans. I resent these agency saboteurs making decisions on which path the American people will follow.
We have reached a sordid period of our history,
As Emperor Hirohito once told his people: "we must endure the unendurable,"
6
Sorry, Gail; I can't "select the worst Trump minion."
Paraphrasing The Beatles' Walrus Song: "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together."
Or Frank Sinatra's Love And Marriage: "You can't have one without the other."
Seriously, they are all mirror images of one another; if you see one, you see them all.
Missing Obama yet?
6
I nominate the former model who treats the campaign and WH as pick up joints. Pretty disgraceful in my opinion.
3
Amazing that Mickey Flynn, now under indictment, wasn't even mentioned. My vote is for Jared Kushner. A man of few words, no action, no apparent reason to be in the White House.
6
Scott Pruitt, hands down. The secure phone booth says it all.
1
Fish rot from the head. What about the reporting that Hope Hicks, Mr. Porter’s next punching bag, was disliked by tRump because she put her own interests ahead of those of the White House! Well, whose example was she following? And, if fellow commentators have seen this yet, please check out Andy Borowitz’s satirical column “Trump gives wife beater praise...” in the yesterday’s NewYorker. Calls it like it is.
2
I would say all of them, but if I have to choose, it would be Scott Pruitt, because I believe he has the potential to do the most damage to our planet in whatever time he remains in office. Close runner-up would be Ryan Zinke.
5
Zinke - it’s important to have something left to conserve- in case conservation comes back into fashion for “conservatives”.
6
What’s the saying, the fish stinks from the head, or something like that. It all starts with Trump himself. He gets my vote.
3
Man this is a tough question. They're all so bad in every way it's almost impossible to select the worst.
I tried to approach the question by examining each one and attempting to find something nice about he or she so I could eliminate them from consideration. Clearly that didn't work out too well so I then tried to identify the worst of the worst using their policies, statements or actions as a criteria and that didn't work either since it's impossible to measure their perfidy, anger, bias's or incompetence.
All this having been considered, I have to go with Sarah Huckabee Sanders who has little or no problem in defending the extend of their disgusting presence in their respected appointments.
Her clever use of dragging either Kelly, Shah, Mulvaney, Mnuchin or others to waste time and dodge relevant questions she may be asked is brilliant and did anyone ever notice she's always pressed for time? How about her beginning each answer to any question by claiming "the president understands" an issue when he's clearly dumb as a stump. She has also worn out the terms "I'm not going to debate this from the podium" and "I've got nothing to add" when asked questions that may make her uncomfortable. When in doubt, she ducks the question altogether and claims the press isn't reporting on the great things the president has done. But he hasn't done anything great. It's all chaos, lies, smoke and mirrors and blame the Democrats as obstructionists.
My vote goes to Sarah.
12
Time to lay off Omarosa Manigault! She's now on record as never voting for Trump again. Once light dawns on marble head, it relinquishes its Worst Trump Minion crown.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/omarosa-manigault-newman-celebrity-big-brot...
My vote goes to Mick Mulvaney. His CFPB adventures are a deeply corrupt attempt to destroy independent, non-partisan government. The CFPB is expressly (in Dodd-Frank) exempt from OMB oversight, and here's the OMB Director bossing around the CFPB.
5
Lucky Ben Carson has been flying under the radar and escaped the list.
1
I would vote for Pruitt because people and money come and go, but what is done to the environment can last and last and last and....
1
Trump has surrounded himself with the worst, Gail, as you describe so well. Maybe like attracts like?
What about the GOP Congress? How did it assemble it’s rogues gallery? Apparently it’s members were selected by a few wealthy wackos for their malleable natures and eagerness for open wallets to pay for re-election.
Maybe, Gail, you could profile the puppeteers of the GOP Congress for us and let us vote for the most bonkers billionaire backer??
8
Minions? Every last one of them.
But think: organs, vital organs, dysfunctional vital organs, and blood poisoning.
Transplants? Sure. Why not? Anything's worth a try.
Thoughts and prayers.
3
If we can't vote for Donnie himself, I vote for Scottie Pruitt. He has a security detail of over 20 officers . He has a security detail of over 20 officers. I have heard that he resembles Lord Farquaad from the animated movie Shrek in many ways. He threw everyone off his floor at EPA and has a cone of silence. Did I mention he has a security detail of over 20 officers, AND a cone of silence.
His "policy" of not only is global warming not happening, its not caused by human activity and its in any event its good for us is absurd.
His red team-blue team approach shows a fundamental lack of understanding of what peer review science is about. He has only has to find a dozen or two credible red team members to evaluate the recent government publication of the current state of warming published in the fall of last year. He is at best a fool and probably a fraud and a fool.
7
I'm all in with Mike Pence, who on Thursday was tagged with the nickname, "The Undertaker", by the The Korea Times. "Rep. Lee Seok-hyun of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said on Twitter: 'Mike Pence is trying to make the festival (PyeongChang Olympics) a funeral.' "
"The Undertaker". Perfect.
Thank You, Korea Times.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/02/356_243731.html?utm_sourc...
12
It has always been Scott Pruitt. What does it take to make this clear?
4
Yeah, they're all uber bad. But forget them...it's their boss who needs to go.
9
Pruitt for sure. He has successfully neutered his agency, and is doing incalculable and possibly irreversible damage to the country and the planet. I’m sure Sessions and DeVos are jealous - they have not been nearly as effective at dismantling their respective departments.
10
You're right-he's the most effective at being worst.
1
Ms. Collins nails it once again. All worthy candidates for Minion of the year but Mr. Pruitt takes the Dr. Nefario award for most long lasting destruction that will impact generations to come.
9
The worst minions of the trump administration are the women in his administration. Any woman who could work for such a man has absolutely no self-respect.
6
Stephen Miller. Do I need to explain?
5
It all starts with Trump. Look at any organization, big or small, those below the top are a direct reflection of that top leader. In this case, they are all small minded, greedy, corrupt, and all have made Faustian bargains with the devil.
Old joke: "Yes, I gave my soul away to the devil for a spot in the limelight. But, I wasn't using it anyway."
5
The ones you mentioned are all runners-up, but Trump himself is his own worst minion.
6
The damage Scott Pruitt is doing to our environment which will have general effects wins. Pruitt laps everyone in the race.
6
This is no longer funny to anyone with children they like.
7
Ivanka sounds like Trump’s pander in her statement defending Hope Hicks. Was Portman just a front? Is she lining up wife #4? Maybe this was what Michael Wolfe was referring to. Eewwww.
6
Bingo!
Portmans affair with hicks was a purposeful distraction
2
What a truly a rogues gallery- and we criticize North Korea.
8
I'm amazed that Gail Collins and the top reader's picks among the comments don't mention Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who as CEO of Exxon Mobile arranged for $10,000 payments to scientific organizations that denied global warming.
7
It has to be Mike Pence.
3
You know *nothing* about *anyone* in the White Hose Ms. Collins. Just as likely these are good, talented people doing the best they can under difficult circumstances that have to read columns like this written by people like you throwing darts from the back of the auditorium. This sort of "they're all terrible" characterization does nothing outside of further the Resistance's dubious narrative that mutters on about "mendacity, bigotry and autocratic contempt for the Constitution." Weak.
Seriously? You feel sorry for them?
2
I say, hose 'em all out of the White Hose.
2
not at all. No one has a gun to anyone's head. Just don't appreciate know-it-all journalists who have never spent a day actually working in government pretending they know what they are talking about.
In Moscow Putin’s best hire was clearly Comrade Trump. In Washington it’s more of an even field at this early stage.
6
Hey, look at this way. They almost...almost...make trump look good.
1
scott pruitt for being a climate warming denier while heading the EPA, but a close second for sara huckabee sanders for being soulless as she spins spins spins...
7
Steve Mnuchin gets my vote - not only is his name fun to pronounce, but he produced the wonderful movie Entourage, which is sort of a mutant prequel to the entire Trump Administration. Plus you know Louise married him not for his money, for his scintillating personality, sterling character, and the fact that his mouth looks like it ends somewhere out beyond his earlobes, giving him the appearance of a giant grinning Pez dispenser. Speaking of which - anybody out there for starting a campaign to get Pez to make dispensers of everyone in the Trump White House? Dibs on Jarrod.
6
Well, we can't vote for everybody mentioned, and they are all equally nasty, self-serving, disgustingly rich, and unethical in a universal sense if not a "legal" sense...yet. So...this is hard. But I have to go with Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Oh, how she annoys me to no end. I mean she makes Sean Spicer look like St. Francis of Assisi. He at least seemed to have had a conscience after all was said and done. I mean the guy wanted to meet the Pope, and Trump wouldn't let him. Mean bully, his boss is. And he had fear, as proven when he hid behind those bushes to avoid the media. That says something about internal conflict, doesn't it?
Now, back to Ms Sarah. She drones on with that monotone, wearing her pretty pearls, and, finally, made-up for the cameras (not that that is important). Fear? Heck no. Honesty? She spins lies like her boss. And she calls herself a Christian. Well, I guess she is the neo-version of Christianity which should not even be considered a valid God-fearing religion.
Yes, definitely the press secretary. She alone can push back the progress we women have made over the decades, most especially this past year or so. I say "can", but there is more of us than her ilk. And as a final wish, I would love to come face-to-face with her one day. Oh, how I would like to tell her off!
11
Oh, Gail, such a conundrum! Now I will be awake all night trying to decide which of these sleaze bags I would most like to see go away. Considering my retirement savings which have taken an awful hit in recent days, I may have to go with Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin.
But the agony of settling on one of this herd is just awful. Why didn't you offer Donald Trump as a choice? He would win in a landslide. A no brainer in every sense of the word.
4
I vote for Sarah Sanders. What a snarky, dismissive, acid-tongued, smirking, evil junior high school "mean girl". She, like Trump - apparently her role model -- name calls, insults, and belittles people regularly. And that is BESIDES all the lying and prevaricating. How she can spew that stuff with a straight face (well, actually, her faceis always contorted as if she is smelling something REALLY bad in the room.). I turn the channel whenever I see her because i can't stand her performance.
5
This is the only honest thing Trump is doing. If you appoint fools to government posts the government will indeed be bad.
2
Secretary of Defense James "Mad Dog" Mattis has never won a major war nor sustained a major peace. But he is the only minion of Donald "Bone Spur" Trump who can get us all killed one ignorant immature inane intemperate insecure Trump nickname or slur tweet or two a time.
2
I'd think the choice of 'worst Trump minion' would be obvious - it's Vlad, nyet?
3
Grifters, the entire lot of them.
But if I had to pick, I'd say DeVos and Pruitt. What legacy will be left for the next generation by these two?
4
Stephen Miller. Can't take any more of his blank expresion,dark, soul-less eyes and ant-immigration whispering in the president's ear.
5
Scott Pruitt for destroying the planet with his blatant disregard for the effects of climate change.
2
Can I just pick the head of the beast and choose Donald Trump? And the horse he rode in on...
5
Sure it’s fair. Everybody.
4
In the interest of "draining the swamp," they are all more than fair game. All are ill-equipped, and in so far over their heads, the ineptitude would be laughable if it weren't so pathetic---and dangerous. The Fuhrer's support network of know-nothings continue to bang the drum of his "achievements," while conveniently ignoring his sole achievement so far is clogging an already burgeoning swamp with more sludge, a swamp that he claimed he would drain? Funny, we don't hear much on that one these days. Not even Trump is THAT stupid?? Ahem....
But the one that wins is---hands down--- Scott Pruitt, whose proclamation of an "arrogant" scientific community re: climate is the gem of gems. The ego gratification in such superbly ignorant personal philosophy must make people of this "persuasion" high. It's the only feasible explanation for someone to be this short-sighted and to have zero regard for the quality of life for his own grandchildren and the larger human race. Empirical knowledge is the enemy of belief. Too bad your gasoline-combustion engine, your digital high-tech haven, the ability to fly around the globe in hours, all the way to world-wide digital connectivity all point to something much different. Those aren't illusory, but came about by scientific discovery. Now, what was that about "arrogance?"
2
My vote is Zinke, with Pruitt close behind. Zinke can, and is, forcing BLM employees to destroy the very lands he's sworn to protect by vindictively chaining off vegetation on places like Bear's Ears so that when he's rotting in prison, the damage he's done will be impossible to reverse. Pruitt allows bad things to happen. Zinke drives the bulldozer himself.
10
everybody. sorry, I just can't help myself. Maybe the lack of impulse control will get me a gig there. Waddyathink?
8
Nice summary of the Trump clown car. Truly can't get much worse. The problem good people have is that by an association with Trump you have lowered yourself. As a human being you have become a lesser person with a connection to Trump. It's like avoiding a disease. If you don't want to get sick, stay away from the source of the illness. That, I believe is why his minions of are so sub par, inept, and grossly incompetent.
5
Ooops, I think you left out my fave, Rick Perry ??? I hear he still can't remember the name of that 3rd department he wanted to get rid of. Recall the classic campaign moment when Trump accused Perry of sporting glasses to make him look smart saying "It's not working".
8
Trick question!
The worst person on the Trump Team is Trump.
11
Sorry, Gail, EVERYBODY... and let's throw in, worthy of their company, Devin Nunes.
9
Tough choice but I vote for Pruitt.
6
How can we forget Kellyanne Conway and her “alternative facts” and Sarah Huckabee Sanders with her daily barrage of falsehoods?
11
How could you leave out Mick Mulvaney, currently “doing” two jobs at once—if you call demeaning and dismantling the agency you’re meant to run “doing your job”—and now supposedly being considered as the third chief of staff to replace Kelly. I sure hope he gets it!
7
Scott Pruitt is causing major, lasting damage to the whole planet. I can't decide between him and Jeff Sessions with his old-timey, futile war on drugs and marijuana, which are actually a continued war on black men.
9
I don't know who's substantively worst--who is doing the most lasting damage to our democracy. But for sheet gall and willingness to say absolutely anything to defend the indefensible I nominate Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I cannot stand to look at her anymore. She's the biggest liar I can think of after Mr. Nixon. If Trump ever does shoot someone on Fifth Avenue I am sure she will have some kind of lame excuse for it.
12
Worst person in the Trump White House?
Oh wow.
This is what, in military terms, would be called a 'target rich environment.'
There are far too many to choose from...
12
This confederacy of dunces stuns the rational mind on the daily. Godspeed, Mr. Mueller.
8
You know things are bad when Rick Perry and Ben Carson don't even make the list.
15
Kelly is by far the worst. He is mini-Trump. And that comes on the heels of GREAT EXPECTATION!
Remember, Kelly was supposed to be a respected grownup. He was supposed to contain Trump's worst impulses. He was supposed to ease the anxiety of the American people.
Instead of being a force for positive change, Kelly has added to the White House chaos, America's depression, the world's anxiety.
Kelly revealed he has the most base instincts. When he went before the press and American people to slight, smear and slander Congresswoman Wilson he not only proudly lied, he dragged the Arlington National Cemetery into his gutter. He postured and played on his military background, he adopted a solemn persona, he related how he walked among the graves of fallen heroes to gather his thoughts. Then he vomited a vicious lie to defame Congresswoman Wilson.
Kelly's transgressions are many (supporting white supremacists, supporting a wife batterer, supporting an ignoramus child president), but no other flaw comes close to his opening up his soulless, heartless, lack of integrity and meanness to America's eyes. We can only shudder in disgust.
14
For "Least in Touch With Normal Human Beings" my vote must go to the Evil John Oliver, Steve Mnuchin. Steve doesn't get it, can't get it and will never get it. The Lego movie got him his own real Barbie which was his dream (Ask Phillip Roth) so he should step aside quickly. But for "Just Plain Scary" I must vote for the Even More Evil Montgomery Burns, Wilbur Ross. Yes, Wilbur (Olderreaders remember that he did own Mr. Ed and received all of his stock tips from a horse) Little Wilbur came to us as a Director of the Bank of Cyprus. You know it's a sleazy bank when you meet all of the villains from Batman in the teller's line.
7
While there's an impressive collection of Trump minions who are dishonest and incompetent, because of the the potential damage to the lives of our great grandchildren due to his decisions, Scott Pruitt is evil. He's got my vote.
9
Firing them will not help because Trump will just rehire another minion!
4
I would vote for Elaine Chao who during the Godfather cabinet meeting was the most odious . Also if she leaves , she would hopefully take her husband , Mitch McConnell wth her
I have no idea what she does in the Cabinet .
8
Honestly, the fate of the republic may be in Melania's hands. If she can summon the nerve to divorce Donald, the humiliation and shame just might be enough to force him to resign.
7
But, they all have been Peter principled, including DJT. So, does this mean we have to chose the most incompetent. I would have to go with Sessions...he's been over his head from the get go. However, DJT does take the cake but he wasn't listed as a candidate for the booby prize.
8
A common thought in management is that you judge a manger by the staff he/she supervises. Smart/talented staff = smart manager. Dumb/incompetent staff = lousy manager. I think that rule applies in this case.
10
Everyone associated with this disgraceful disaster of an administration is forever tainted. Everyone.
11
I vote "covfefe"'s mad-(red-)hatted voters, the mostly-white men and *shudder* women who lent slight legitimacy to the s'Electoral College's betrayal of what duty we hoped it had to the sane majority and the US itself. As long as they surround him like any other rot-loving pest, certain ill-advised media can still pretend his is a "populist" movement and not just a racist one.
"covfefe"'s cabinet saboteurs are uniformly malcompetent and abhorrent, but it is the #MAGA[1] crowd that allowed them to take office.
They are welcome, and urged, to pick up where the defeated Confederates left off and secede. (We'll let 'em without a shot this time. We promise.)
Just remember to allow safe passage for the sane to the US from your new Greatagainia, before you build the wall around yourselves.
[1] A rare instance where I allow myself to join the far-too-slowly-dying hashtag fad, to intentionally stain it with the same bigotry that Twitter's staff intentionally stains it with every day they don't ban the toddler.
6
Funny, but.... not really that funny.
4
I say Stephen Miller.
He's the deplorables' deplorable.
4
My choice for the worst person is Kelly Ann Conway, but then smarmy Mike Pence is a close second.
5
Trump, and then they all resign!
2
Scott Pruitt, hands down winner (or loser). As head of EPA, he's using his position to make much of the world uninhabitable one day.
2
Please allow us to vote one out of the White House each week, until they are all gone. Then for the finale, we can vote to impeach the dream weaver.
4
How ironic that total failures Ben Carson and Rick Perry aren't bad enough to make Gail's list. And Jared and/or Kellyanne don't even warrant an honorable mention?
3
Every last one of them, their spouse and children, and dogs!
4
Stephen Miller hands down.
He’d shut the door of the gas chamber on me without a second thought.
3
I can't make up my mind. They are all hideous.
4
Gail, the wurst of the wurst on Trump's memorably deplorable team is: a toss-up! Sarah Huckabee Sanders? Kirstjen Nielsen?, Scott Pruitt? Betsy De Vos? Jeff Sessions? Steve Mnuchin and Fort Knox gold-bar examining wife? - that guy can't even write his name cursive on American dollar bills! Ryan Zinke - totally unfit for his job as Sec. of the Interior - he's in Trump's Mar-a-Lago pocket, re drilling, baby, drilling offshore? Trumps' cabinet of mini-mes is the worst cabinet in American History. But heck, why quibble over losers, these minions will be on their way out sooner or later? Here's your hat, what's the hurry?
2
I'm waiting for Roy Moore and Joe Arpaio to join the Cabinet. That would make this quiz really challenging. And that Illinois Nazi may be chosen for No. 3 in the Justice Department if he doesn't win a congressional seat.
8
Every cabinet member is vile in their own way but it was the entire senate GOP who confirmed these people. Hence my vote is for every republican in the senate who have let these neerdowellers destroy our nation.
8
Rats! I was going to say “everybody”.
7
"Everybody" is the correct response, inasmuch as there is no "fairness" in the era of Trump.
3
It's just too hard to decide because, in the race to the bottom, the bar keeps getting lowered. Then too there are the determinant factors. Are we to consider who among the minions is the most inept, repugnant, criminal, or is causing the most damage? I guess I'm going to withhold my opinion until the Donald replaces his malignantly elvish A.G. Sessions with Joe Arpaio.
4
While many qualify, my personal "worst" selection is michael pence, the only individual other than trump himself elected by "all" Americans. The nationally elected pence acts as a bootlicking shill for trump at the expense of the nation.
7
Oh, it just has to be Dept of Energy secretary Rick “Oops” Perry who did not know at the time he accepted Trump’s offer that the DOE is in charge of the nuclear arsenal as well as all of the nuclear power plants. The guy that Perry replaced from the Obama administration was a MIT nuclear physicist with a Nobel Prize in chemistry. Perry has a degree in animal science from Texas A&M. This for me sums up how far we have fallen. Perhaps the worst and most dangerous cabinet appointment in U.S. Sorry Gail, I still cannot get over “Oops” being in charges of the nukes.
7
Nunes has to be the most transparently inept minion, but he didn't even make the list.
In terms of which minion is causing the most damage to the nation it becomes an almost impossible call, they are all industriously deplorable.
5
Rick Perry didn't make the list. SAD!
Goes to show how bad the rest of the lot is. Even tho' Rick ran Texas -- a state noted for its corrupt politics -- at least he actually ran something, sort of ...
4
I vote for Zinke and Pruitt for their abominable crimes against nature.
7
This list of deplorable minions is long, indeed, and so full of deserving stinkers. How to decide which one is the worst, who should be the first to go? We should step back, and ponder the minion-in-chief. The fish rots from the head, or rather, the hairpiece. We could be rid of all of these clowns with one fell swoop. Depose Donald. I vote to remove Trump from office. As the gold-plated ship of fools sinks under the waves, all these rats will scurry away. Get rid of the one fool that rules them all...
6
Let's look at every Cabinet and staff member who stayed working for Trump after he declared in August that there were "fine people" on both sides of the Charlotteville debacle.
That means that Trump -- and all of them -- support Nazi ideology and racist bigots as "fine."
All those who fought in World War II or were saved by World War II should have risen up in angry, unbelieving protest.
Instead, Trump allowed fascism into the Oval Office.
So anyone who is still loyal to Trump -- in the executive branch, or complicit in the Congress -- is declaring that they think there are fine Nazis.
And Trump thinks he's the second coming of Winston Churchill.
5
Gail, you are a treasure. In the bleak horrible times you can still bring a smile, even though what you write about isn't funny!! This corrupt and rotting administration needs to go, replaced by people that actually care about country, constituents, the planet, our allies, other species and the world!!!
5
It's an impossible choice. They're all so dreadful in their own way. Can we create categories? Most hypocritical, biggest liar, most incompetent, biggest threat to democracy...
2
And where is Rick Perry?
2