President-elect Donald Trump, as Matt covered, announced at an event on Thursday night that he was selecting Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) to serve as his Secretary of Interior, prompting a strong reaction from the DNC. Unfortunately for the DNC, Trump also announced on Friday that Burgum will serve as the chairman of the National Energy Council.
As Trump's statement shared about Burgum:
I am thrilled to announce that Doug Burgum, the Governor of North Dakota, will be joining my Administration as both Secretary of the Interior and, as Chairman of the newly formed, and very important, National Energy Council, which will consist of all Departments and Agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation, of ALL forms of American Energy. This Council will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation. With U.S. Energy Dominance, we will drive down Inflation, win the A.I. arms race with China (and others), and expand American Diplomatic Power to end Wars all across the World.
Trump didn't merely sing the governor's praises, but also called out Democrats for their failures on energy and energy independence. Trump's statement also focused on "ENERGY DOMINANCE," with all caps:
The Radical Left’s War on American Energy has hurt our Allies by forcing them to buy from our adversaries, who in turn use those profits to fund Wars and Terror. ENERGY DOMINANCE will allow us to sell Energy to our friends, including all European Nations, which will make the World a safer place. As Chairman of the National Energy Council, Doug will have a seat on the National Security Council. As Secretary of the Interior, Doug will be a key leader in ushering in a new “Golden Age of American Prosperity” and World Peace. The Biden-Harris Administration has driven our National Debt to a record $36 TRILLION DOLLARS. Yet America is blessed with vast amounts of “Liquid Gold” and other valuable Minerals and Resources, right beneath our feet. We will “DRILL BABY DRILL,” expand ALL forms of Energy production to grow our Economy, and create good-paying jobs. By smartly utilizing our amazing National Assets, we will preserve and protect our most beautiful places, AND reduce our deficits and our debt!
We will also undo the damage done by the Democrats to our Nation’s Electrical Grid, by dramatically increasing baseload power. This will reduce the cost of Electrical bills that continue to skyrocket for Citizens and Small Businesses under Biden-Harris, and ensure that America has the power to serve all of our needs without the devastation of blackouts and brownouts, and to WIN the battle for A.I. superiority, which is key to National Security and our Nation’s Prosperity. Doug Burgum will protect our Nation’s Natural Resources, restore our fabulous Oil and Gas advantage, and Make America, and its Energy, Dominant and Great Again!
Just over an hour before that Friday statement, the DNC War Room released a desperate statement as part of a ranting press release about such a pick, even resurrecting the "MAGA extremist" label to go after their political opponents.
"Donald Trump picked Doug Burgum to be Secretary of the Interior because he’s a MAGA loyalist who has repeatedly sided with Trump’s billionaire special interest backers over hardworking Americans. Burgum was clear on the campaign trail – he and Trump will look out for billionaires, big oil, and big gas first even if it means canning American jobs and undermining American industry. Just like Trump, Burgum is focused on lining the pockets of the ultra-wealthy like himself — not serving the American people," claimed a statement from DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd.
Not only does the press release reference oil, which at least has to do with the energy topic, but also brought the MAGA label into it to by claiming that "Burgum has long been a cheerleader for Trump’s failed MAGAnomics agenda of rigging the economy for ultra-wealthy people like him and big corporations at the expense of working families."
It devolves even further from there, bringing up topics that Democrats are still downright obsessed with, such as ObamaCare and abortion, including the abortion bill that Burgum signed into law following Roe v. Wade being overturned, as well as the 2020 election. Predictably, the press release leaves out that Burgum, just like Trump, believes that abortion should be left up to the states, a position he made clear last year when he himself was running for president.
As someone who was once Trump's primary opponent for 2024 but became particularly loyal and supportive upon dropping out, and who also was being considered for his running mate before Vice President-elect JD Vance was ultimately selected, Burgum makes sense. He also has plenty of experience in the field.
Such a reaction from the DNC is a lot less surprising given that this is not the only statement they put out against Trump's picks. As we covered at the time on Wednesday, the DNC War Room also shamefully called out Pete Hegseth, selected to be the Secretary of Defense, focusing on his role as a Fox News host and not once mentioning that he is a veteran.
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