Nikki Haley Voices Concerns Over Trump's Cabinet Choices

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, has spoken out against two of President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks. She criticized the choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Health and Human Services Department, noting his lack of healthcare experience and his past as a Democrat. Kennedy has been known for his criticism of vaccines, though he has asserted recently that he is not anti-vaccine. Public health experts are worried about his appointment due to his history of vaccine safety misinformation. Haley also questioned the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman from Hawaii, for the role of Director of National Intelligence. She highlighted Gabbard's controversial past statements on human rights violations in Syria, which Haley linked to Russian propaganda. Gabbard defended her 2017 meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as a "fact-finding mission, " despite later labeling him a "brutal dictator. " Gabbard has no intelligence background and opposes U. S. intervention in the Syrian civil war and the war in Ukraine. Haley emphasized the importance of candidates for these roles being "honest brokers without any pronounced policy biases. " The Senate is expected to review these nominations. Recently, former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for the Attorney General role amid an ethics investigation.