The White House nominee for USDA chief scientist, Sam Clovis, described President Obama as an aspiring dictator and climate change as a con job during a broadcast career in Iowa a few years ago, said CNN’s KFile. The USDA had no immediate response. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said an earlier CNN report on Clovis’ political views was part of a smear campaign against Trump nominees.
A former college professor, Clovis was co-chair of the Trump presidential campaign and is the administration’s top political operative at USDA. President Trump nominated him to be undersecretary for research, a job that doubles as chief scientist. By statute, the chief scientist is to be chosen from “distinguished scientists with specialized or significant experience in agricultural research, education and economics.” Three Democratic senators have questioned if Clovis has the credentials for the job since he holds a doctorate in public administration.
CNN said its new report was based on transcripts of a radio show hosted by Clovis, blogs written by Clovis and recordings of his appearances on radio shows other than his own. In an April 2012 blog, Clovis said if Obama served a second term as president, it “could very well mean the total deconstruction of our Constitutional republic. He wants to be a dictator and he wants to enslave all who are not part of his regime.” On WHO radio in February 2014, Clovis agreed, “Right,” to a description of climate change as a con job to redistribute wealth.
In June 2012, Clovis said on WHO, “a lot of people out there including our friend, know your buddy, Al Gore, keeps saying this is settled science. I’m not sure this is settled science,” reported CNN. In other remarks excerpted by CNN, Clovis called Obama “a dyed-in-the-wool Maoist” and said Labor Secretary Tom Perez, now chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was “a racist Latino.”
On Twitter, Ricardo Salvador of the Union of Concerned Scientists, which opposes the nomination, tweeted, “And this is the unqualified individual that the administration is proposing to serve as @usda chief scientist.” The nomination requires Senate confirmation.
“I fully support his nomination. I’ll do everything I can within the confirmation process, ” Perdue told reporters. “The president has confidence in his abilities.”
Asked about Clovis’ qualifications, Perdue said Clovis is an academician. At the subcabinet level of undersecretary, Clovis will spend his time as a manager of people and projects. “I don’t necessarily buy the idea that you have to be one (scientist) to manage that area.”