Musk To RFK Jr, Trump's Picks Who Face Sexual Abuse Charges

Washington, DC, US: Trump has been making headlines with his new cabinet picks. From Elon Musk and former WWE CEO Linda McMahon to Fox News commentator Pete Hegseth, environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and US representative Matt Gaetz, all big names have made it to the president-elect’s cabinet. However, some of the Republican’s picks do not hold a clean record. Most of them face varying degrees of sexual misconduct allegations.

Elon Musk

Earlier this year, eight employees of the tech giant filed a lawsuit against him for sexual harassment and retaliation in California state court.

“Musk knowingly and purposefully created an unwelcome hostile work environment based upon his conduct of interjecting into the workplace vile sexual photographs, memes, and commentary that demeaned women and/or the LGBTQ+ community,” the eight former employees said in their filing.

After this, several incidents of alleged sexual abuse came to the forefront. He was accused of having sexual relationships with two of his employees, including an intern.

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He was also accused of exposing himself to a flight attendant on a private jet in 2016, as reported by Business Insider.

The flight attendant, a woman, alleged that Musk exposed himself to her. He rubbed her thigh and offered to buy her a horse if she would “do more” during an in-flight massage, Business Insider quoted the friend of the flight attendant as saying.

The Tesla owner denied all the allegations. Taking to his social media platform X, he said, “The attacks against me should be viewed through a political lens – this is their standard (despicable) playbook – but nothing will deter me from fighting for a good future and your right to free speech,” he wrote.

Matt Gaetz

Trump’s pick for attorney general was once embroiled in a sex-trafficking investigation by the Justice Department that he has been chosen to lead. Gaetz was investigated for alleged sexual trafficking of a minor, breaking federal sex trafficking laws, and being involved in a scheme to recruit and pay women for sex in 2021.

The probe also included Floridian Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector in Seminole County who was indicted in 2020 on a federal child sex trafficking charge. According to the New York Times, people close to the investigation said they believe Greenberg met women through websites and introduced them to Gaetz, who had sex with them.

Gaetz denied any role in the case, alleging a political conspiracy by his rivals, particularly former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The investigation ended on November 13, when Gaetz resigned from Congress after Trump’s nomination as the head of the same department that opened the probe against him.

Pete Hegseth

The defense secretary nominee and Fox News host Pete Hegseth was investigated for sexual assault in California in 2017. Allegedly, Hegseth raped the then-30-year-old conservative group staffer in his room after drinking at a hotel bar. The accuser, whose identity has not been made public, filed a complaint with the police alleging she was sexually assaulted days after the October 7, 2017, encounter in Monterey, California, but the local district attorney did not bring charges.

Reportedly, Hegseth paid an undisclosed sum to the woman several years later as part of a nondisclosure agreement, though he maintained that their encounter was consensual, according to a statement from his lawyer Saturday and other documents obtained by the Washington Post.

Also Read | Trump Picks Matt Gaetz Who Once Faced Sex Trafficking Investigation By The Justice Department As Its Head

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Earlier this year, Vanity Fair claimed that RFK Junior, Trump’s pick for the Health Department, sexually assaulted Eliza Cooney, a former babysitter for the family. RFK Jr. has somewhere accepted the claims. During his appearance on the podcast Breaking Point, he said, “The [Vanity Fair] article is a lot of garbage. Listen, I have said this from the beginning. I am not a church boy. I am not running like that”.

Later, he claimed to have texted Cooney to express regret for his actions. Kennedy admitted to podcast host Saagar Enjeti that he “had a very, very rambunctious youth.”

However, it appears that all the allegations do not have any space in Trump’s book. The President-elect himself faces such accusation. Stacey Williams, a former model, accused the Republican of misconduct at his New York office in 1992, reported The Guardian. Trump and Williams were introduced to each other by sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein. Trump also has various other sexual assault cases against him.