Democrats looking for a cabinet-level Team Trump scalp finally got one Wednesday, as Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination for secretary of labor. Will that satisfy the blood lust?
Puzder was an excellent pick. His take on the issues — warning that minimum-wage hikes can kill jobs, that excessive rules on overtime pay only gummed up the workplace — were mainstream Republicanism.
More, the fast-food CEO knew from personal experience the real impact over-regulation has on businesses, both large and, especially, small. That would’ve made him far harder for the career bureaucracy and entrenched special interests to “roll.”
Which is why Big Labor had set its sights on Puzder from the get-go.
But he was also subjected to some incredibly cheap attacks, including on the “sexist” nature of some of his restaurant ads that (gasp!) featured bikini-clad women.
The most vicious one, however, was the surfacing of a 1990 video in which his then-wife appeared in disguise on Oprah Winfrey during her divorce suit to charge Puzder with spousal abuse.
Never mind that she quickly retracted the charge, endorsed her ex-husband’s cabinet bid and ripped his critics.
What apparently sank him, though, was his admission that he’d for years employed an illegal alien as a domestic housekeeper and failed to pay the required employment taxes. That prompted several GOP senators to jump ship.
Especially following the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn, the Republicans may also hope that Puzder’s defeat will satisfy the Democrats’ furious base. Perhaps the hard-left protesters will lay off Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, so he can start guarding the party’s (and the nation’s) long-term interests, and let the Senate return to more normal operations.
It’s a shame the nation will lose Puzder’s expertise and ability. It would be worse if Democrats, having tasted blood, abandon all decency in the search for more victims.