He Screams About 'Race Traitors' -- and Trump Loves Him

Sam Clovis is anti-science, pro-birther, and UFO-curious. Which has a lot of folks asking: Why did Trump name him to a top science post?

LACHLAN MARKAY
ASAWIN SUEBSAENG
SAM STEIN
08.25.17 12:00 AM ET

Sam Clovis is good on TV, which is why President Donald Trump likes him. Whether it qualifies him for a high-level administration post, or gets him confirmed by the Senate, is another question entirely.

Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill are hoping it won’t be enough. And in the coming weeks they are gearing up for war against Clovis, the former Trump campaign aide whom the president nominated last month to serve as the Department of Agriculture’s top scientist.

The argument they will make is that Clovis is wholly unqualified, outwardly anti-science, and, well, a bigot. And in a post-Charlottesville political world, the belief among top Democrats in the Senate is that this will be too much for elected Republicans to swallow.
So far, there has been little give from GOP lawmakers and even less from the Trump White House. At a time when the president is engulfed by scandal and self-inflicted chaos—with barely any political capital left to expend—he remains committed to Clovis’ nomination.

The question often asked by those following the nomination closely is: “Why?”
In conversations with administration officials, Hill sources, Clovis allies, and former associates, one common response is that Trump appreciates Clovis’ steady, non-showy loyalty and values his capacity to handle a TV hit.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/he-screams-about-race-traitorsand-trump-loves-him