Eight years ago, Larry Summers ventured the opinion that “Steven Mnuchin may be the greatest sycophant in Cabinet history.” Summers, a former US Treasury secretary and former president of Harvard University, was reacting to Mnuchin’s refusal to condemn Donald Trump’s observation that there were “some very fine people” at a 2017 neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Va.
A few months later, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank catalogued additional Mnuchin bootlickery, e.g., Trump “has got perfect genes” and is “unbelievably healthy.” Milbank wrote: “There is no longer need for a qualifier.” “It’s Official,” the Post’s headline declared; “Steven Mnuchin is the greatest sycophant in Cabinet history.”
My, how things do change.
The fiercely contested title for “greatest sycophant in Cabinet history” is still very much up for grabs. If the balloting were held today, Mnuchin probably wouldn’t even place in the top 10.
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Newly rechristened War Secretary Pete Hegseth is always vying for a place on the podium; witness his remarks at an April Cabinet meeting: “What we have seen since your election and the inauguration has been nothing short of a recruiting renaissance. The men and women of America want to join the United States military led by President Donald Trump.”
Earlier this month USA Today ungraciously pointed out that “nearly one quarter of the U.S. Army’s new recruits … wouldn’t have made the cut due to poor test scores or struggles with pushups a decade ago.”
No surprise there; they’ve lowered standards for serving in the Cabinet, too!
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In the race-to-the-bottom ethics of the Trump’s coterie, two cronies — special envoy Steve Witkoff and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — have bruited their opinion that Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. What about the others in his inner circle? Don’t let the Bootlick Express leave the station without you!
Kowtowing is a habit that has spread well beyond the Cabinet Room. Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook nearly broke the UpSuck-o-Meter during a recent public meeting with Trump. “It’s incredible to be among everyone here, particularly you and the First Lady. … I want to thank you for setting the tone such that we could make a major investment in the United States,” Cook said, referring to Apple’s pledge to put $600 billion into US manufacturing.
Wired magazine sardonically commented: “Given that Apple made that commitment under threat of crippling tariffs on smartphones, it was a bit like thanking the school bully for setting the tone such that you can give him your lunch money.”
Journalists can play this game too. President Trump “looks healthier than ever before,” Cara Castronuova, a correspondent for LindellTV, said at the end of an April press briefing. “I’m sure everybody in this room could agree. Is he working out with Bobby Kennedy, and is he eating less McDonald’s?”
Castronuova’s website calls her “a celebrity fitness trainer, athlete, activist and media personality.” LindellTV is the brainchild of MyPillow executive Mike Lindell, world-class election denier and all-around Trump toady.
But wait, Alex, you might be thinking. Aren’t you the fellow who, “in a blazing flash of sycophancy,” once stepped out of a cab in downtown Boston and gave your seat to a befuddled-looking Donald Trump?
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The facts: “I had just yelled, ‘Trump, go home!’ out the window and immediately felt bad,” I wrote in 1992. “Trump was perched on the curb at Congress Street, visibly shaken by another grinding meeting with Fidelity Investments, one of his biggest creditors. I felt terrible. I gave him the cab.”
Note to self: Either move out of the glass house or stop casting stones. Or fire off a resume to LindellTV. You will fit right in.
Alex Beam’s column appears regularly in the Globe. Follow him @imalexbeamyrnot.