Max Boot, who now writes a column for the Washington Post, says that U.N ambassadors have typically had distinguished careers before they were nominated. Not so the latest nominee.

 

Kelly Knight Craft was chosen to be U.S. ambassador to Canada, and now to the United Nations, because she and her third husband, the billionaire coal baron Joe Craft, are mega MAGA-donors. According to The Post, they gave “about $1.5 million to GOP candidates in 2016, including $270,800 to Trump’s campaign committee or his joint fundraising committee with the Republican National Committee.” Perhaps just as important from this president’s perspective, they are also “repeat, high-paying customers at Trump’s hotel in Washington.” Craft’s other recommendation is that, as a Kentucky native, she is a supporter of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and is said to be friends with McConnell’s wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao….

The only thing Craft said that anyone will remember is even more embarrassing than Nauert’s D-Day comment. This is her stance on climate change: “I believe there are scientists on both sides that are accurate. … I appreciate and respect both sides of the science.” This was widely and rightly ridiculed because, while there is a debate about what to do about global warming, there is no legitimate debate about whether global warming is real. There is a scientific consensus on the subject — one that Craft is either ignorant of or simply denies. According to the New York Times, her electronic signature has even included: “Sent by my coal powered iPad.”

If confirmed, Craft will arrive at the United Nations as a laughingstock — just like her boss. It’s hard to escape the suspicion that this is precisely what Trump intends: He is showing his contempt for the United Nations, and indeed the world, by appointing an ambassador who is singularly unqualified for the position.