This morning, Donald Trump appointed Todd Ricketts as his deputy secretary of commerce. Why is that weird? Well, our president-elect ripped the guy’s entire family on Twitter earlier this year.
“I hear the Rickets family, who owns the Chicago Cubs, are secretly spending $’s against me,” the billionaire businessman wrote in February. “They better be careful, they have a lot to hide!”
Rut-roh. Hope Todd’s not a big social media guy.
By the way, that spelling and punctuation error are on our incoming commander-in-chief — here’s the actual tweet:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/701779181986680832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
At the time, family matriarch Marlene Ricketts had made a $3 million donation to the anti-Trump political action committee Our Principles PAC. However, once he became the GOP nominee, the same family donated $1 million to his effort. So, perhaps they’ve patched it all up. After all, in a Trump presidency money may heal all wounds.
“As Deputy Commerce Secretary he will help us cut waste and streamline government so that it works for the people of America,” Trump said Wednesday in a statement. “The incredible job he and the Ricketts family did in the purchase and turnaround of the Chicago Cubs – one perfect step after another, leading to the World Championship, is what I want representing our people. I am very proud to have him on our team.”
“I am honored that President-elect Donald J. Trump has asked me to serve our country at this critical juncture in our history,” Ricketts added. “Advancing practical policies that promote economic opportunity is critical to making America great again. I’m eager to begin this important work and serving with Wilbur Ross to implement President-elect Trump’s economic agenda, which will improve the lives of all Americans.”
And here’s the statement from the 45th POTUS’ transition team: “Ricketts is committed to promoting the values of fiscal responsibility and educating taxpayers on wasteful and excessive government spending. He is the son of Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts and has years of hands-on experience in the finance industry. Like President-elect Trump, Mr. Ricketts will use this knowledge to fix the broken Washington D.C. system, keep jobs in the United States and spur job growth.”