Trump Demands Robert Karem Firing After McConnell Hearing Whisper
Donald Trump demanded that Robert Karem be fired after Karem whispered to Mitch McConnell during a Senate hearing with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The exchange involved McConnell, 84, and came after Karem told him that three senators still had questions.
Trump called the former Defense Department official a Never Trumper and posted that McConnell looked “foolish and completely out of it.” He also wrote, “For this, he should be immediately fired!”
Robert Karem And The Hearing
Karem served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during Trump’s first administration. Trump nominated him in 2018, and the Senate confirmed him that year. Karem had also served on Trump’s first transition team and worked on the House Intelligence Committee under Devin Nunes from 2015 to 2019.
During the hearing, Karem whispered to McConnell that Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin, New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and Republican John Kennedy still had questions. McConnell replied, “Yeah. Obviously, not a whole lotta’ time for second rounds, so we’ll get through everybody, and Senator Murkowski, I appreciate you taking over.”
Trump’s Post About Karem
Trump expanded on the criticism in another post, tying Karem to McConnell’s position on the filibuster and to “THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.” He wrote, “He is probably the reason why Mitch McConnell is stupidly opposed to terminating the Filibuster, and refuses to help with a 97% issue, THE SAVE AMERICA ACT. FIRE THE BUM!”
He also said, “This was a case where Mitch wasn’t confused, he just didn’t understand why he was being asked to do something when it was too late, and people were wrapping up to leave — They wanted to go home.” Those remarks put a former Trump appointee back in the center of a public dispute with Trump over the conduct of a hearing.
McConnell And Bates
McConnell stepped down as Senate Republican leader in 2024, but he remained the focus of Trump’s attack after the hearing. Andrew Bates, an Obama-Biden administration communications aide, called it weird that Trump was attacking someone he had previously nominated.
Bates said, “It makes sense that President Obama, one of the most popular leaders in America, lives in the head of a president whose numbers are cratering.” He added, “Obama stopped Iran from getting nuclear weapons by actually being a good negotiator and handed Donald Trump a strong economy just before Trump nominated Robert Karem to be a top Defense official.”
