Embarrassingly repudiated by the election of Donald Trump in record numbers, the mainstream media has taken to nitpicking every cabinet nomination the President-Elect is making.
Newsday, which endorsed Harris and ran a steady stream of propaganda against the 45th President, turned its Yellow Journalism against Lee Zeldin, the former Congressman nominated to head the Environmental Protection Agency.
“EPA nominee Lee Zeldin has backed environmental causes, but not all are convinced,” blared the headline from the only daily newspaper in the nominee’s hometown. With headings such as “Critics Abound” and “Future Questions,” the paper launched into a 1,360-word harangue quoting environmentalists “scared” of what Zeldin might do and wondering, "Will he stand with the public, or will he stand for an anti-environmental agenda?"
Zeldin’s hometown paper wasn’t the worst of them. “Trump appoints new EPA head Lee Zeldin, who has abysmal environmental record,” chirped Salon. “Trump picks Lee Zeldin— who voted against environmental bills 85 percent of the time—to lead EPA,” carped MSN.
The naysayers focused on a 14 percent rating formulated on him by the League of Conservation Voters, noting that he opposed 51 out of 53 climate change bills from 2015 to 2023. “Because Zeldin represented a Long Island district, he has supported conservation measures that focus on Long Island coastlines,” MSN wrote. “At the same time, he opposed clean water legislation at least 12 times and clean air legislation at least six times.”
To the contrary, Trump believes he has a winner in Zeldin, who came close to defeating Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022 and was a staunch ally of his this year, helping the 47th President run strong in the heavily blue New York. “Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies. He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet,” Trump said in announcing his pick. “He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.”
The President-Elect noted he has known the Shirley native for a long time and has “watched him handle, brilliantly, some extremely difficult and complex situations. I am very proud to have him in the Trump Administration, where he will quickly prove to be a great contributor!”
For his part, Zeldin promised to “restore U.S. energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs and make the U.S. the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.”
Zeldin represented New York’s 1st Congressional District from 2015 to 2023. He garnered the most votes for a Republican candidate statewide since Nelson Rockefeller over 50 years ago. His strong performance at the top of the ticket helped Republicans flip multiple suburban House districts in New York, resulting in the Republican Party’s majority in the House of Representatives.
A Suffolk native, Zeldin became the youngest attorney in New York State at age 23. He served four years on active Army duty as a Military Intelligence Officer, Prosecutor, and Military Magistrate. In 2006, he deployed to Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Today, he continues his service as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve, marking over two decades in the military.
In 2010, Zeldin was elected to the New York State Senate, where he served until 2014 when he won a seat the 1st District seat. During his eight years in Congress, Zeldin served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Financial Services Committee. As one of two Jewish Republicans in Congress, he co-chaired the House Republican Israel Caucus, which had over 100 members. He was a vocal advocate on foreign policy, border security, military affairs, combating antisemitism, environmental issues, energy policy, and much more, according to his bio. He championed vast infrastructure and research projects for his district, including the preservation of Plum Island, Army Corps of Engineers initiatives, and a $2 billion electron ion Collider for Brookhaven National Lab.
Zeldin will join a team of Trump appointees who are seen as disruptors of the status quo. After four years of the Biden administration, the 45th President was swept back into office with the distinct promise of Making America Great Again.
The nation’s rejection of Vice President Kamala Harris did not sit well with an establishment that glossed over her shortcomings and slammed Trump at every turn. They turned a blind eye to the wars, crime, illegal immigration, drug scourge, inflation, and woke precepts of the Biden-Harris regime and, in doing so, lost whatever credibility they had left with the American public. They’ve shed over half of their audience in recent years, leaving the majority to hope they’ll finally blubber up and give the new Trump Team a chance.