Trump's nomination of Paul Ingrassia loses Republican support following racist text messages

[groundloop]

Source: The Guardian



Donald Trump’s nomination of a conservative attorney and commentator to oversee federal whistleblower protections appeared to be collapsing after his racist text messages surfaced this week and the Republican Senate leader suggested the White House should withdraw the pick.

Paul Ingrassia, currently a White House liaison at the Department of Homeland Security, previously advocated for making 6 January a national holiday and publicly questioned whether the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack was a “psyop”. But the fans were flamed again on Monday after Politico reported text messages in which Ingrassia allegedly described himself as having “a Nazi streak” and suggested Martin Luther King Jr Day should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell”.

When reporters asked whether the administration should pull Ingrassia’s nomination to lead the office of special counsel, John Thune, the Senate majority leader, responded on Monday: “I think so. He’s not going to pass”.

At least three GOP senators on the homeland security committee indicated they will vote against Ingrassia when his confirmation hearing proceeds on Thursday: Rick Scott of Florida, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and James Lankford of Oklahoma.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/21/trump-nomination-paul-ingrassia-racist-texts

[dweller]

1. Jeez

He’s too sicko for this trio of sickos …

Rick Scott of Florida, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and James Lankford of Oklahoma.


😑



✌🏻

[riversedge]

6. Especially liars, cruel Senators Johanson and Scott. Sen Landford seems to have at least an ounze

of rehabilitation brains in him.

[SunSeeker]

2. K & R

[AZJonnie]

3. Pffft. This is just their perfunctory performative bullshit

Next, Murkowski and Collins will chime in with their concerns

If Dear Leader insists, they will all cave like the craven asswipes they are, as always

[William Seger]

4. "At least three GOP senators on the homeland security committee indicated they will vote against..."

So, 13 GOP senators on the homeland security committee DON'T have a problem with racism.

[BaronChocula]

5. Only discreet racists need apply

No experience necessary.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. Paul Ingrassia has withdrawn from his upcoming confirmation hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. MaddowBlog-Trump's latest failed nominee makes the White House appear even more incompetent

Paul Ingrassia’s nomination was an obvious debacle, but he’s only the latest addition to a growing list of personnel failures.

Every time a Trump nominee fails, the White House looks even more incompetent:
- Paul Ingrassia
- E.J. Antoni
- Brian Quintenz
- Matt Gaetz
- Dave Weldon
- Ed Martin
- Janette Nesheiwat
- Chad Chronister
- Kathleen Sgamma
- Jared Isaacman
- Elise Stefanik www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-10-22T12:59:19.307Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-latest-failed-nominee-makes-white-house-appear-even-incompetent-rcna239083

The process surrounding Donald Trump’s nominees tends to resemble an efficient assembly line. The president taps a loyalist with dubious qualifications; obedient Senate Republicans do what the White House tells them to do; and the nominees are confirmed to powerful positions that many of them clearly shouldn’t have.

Lately, however, the assembly line has broken down with surprising frequency. Take this week, for example. MSNBC reported:

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel, Paul Ingrassia, withdrew his name from consideration on Tuesday after his confirmation looked destined to fail. In a social media post Tuesday night, Ingrassia said he would no longer attend his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday ‘because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time.’

The right-wing nominee’s record is filled with a great many ridiculous comments, but his head count was correct: Ingrassia’s history of radicalism made him one of the president’s most outlandish nominees to date, but after Politico reported on a group text in which Ingrassia acknowledged his “Nazi streak,” a variety of prominent GOP senators said they’d vote against him.....

But this is not, strictly speaking, simply a story about the demise of a ridiculous nomination. Rather, it’s equally important to appreciate the larger pattern — because while the conventional wisdom is that the Republican-led Senate reflexively confirms every misguided Trump nominee, that’s not entirely the case.

Earlier this month, for example, Brian Quintenz’s nomination to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission failed, and just a few days earlier, E.J. Antoni’s nomination to become the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics failed in the face of bipartisan opposition.

And while three nomination failures in three weeks is a lot, the problem has persisted for months. Indeed, the same list also includes Matt Gaetz, Dave Weldon, Ed Martin, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Chad Chronister, Kathleen Sgamma and Jared Isaacman. (If we widen the aperture a bit, Elise Stefanik is also arguably part of the same group.)

The longer this list grows, the louder the concerns about rampant incompetence in the West Wing.