Trump Appoints 22-Year-Old Ex-Gardener and Grocery Store Assistant to Lead U.S. Terror Prevention

[Questerr]

Ah, that is code for “it is totally about race.”

Hope that helps clear up any confusion!

Wow, that means conservatives on here who talk about “DEI hires” are racists and since none of them have even attempted to counter the point, they must be.

 

[SCrider]

You didn’t know this position existed before now. It’s fundraising and pencil pushing. That you guys think it requires some 007 type figure is so weird.

How do you know what the job requires?

 

[RetiredAtLast]

Ok but do you think the administration could have found someone who is a bit more qualified, maybe has years of experience in the field?

Maybe. Or maybe he showed such excellence during his work on the campaign that they feel he can do what sounds like a clerical job.

 

[RetiredAtLast]

Wait so conservatives are lying when they say that “DEI hires” are about hiring unqualified people and not about race?

It really just means “hiring non-white people”? That’s what conservatives want to stop when they say they want to end DEI?

You'll have to ask those conservatives you're quoting. My comments have been about hiring unqualified people, but the Biden administration seemed to apply it mostly to non-white people (Karine Jean-Pierre, for example).

 

[Airyaman]

Welp...

 

[RetiredAtLast]

It is still a "lead" position

Is it?

 

[CaughtInThe]

Your lies are the most blatant of any Trumper on this site.

This position isn’t “filling out grant paperwork”. It’s deciding where to send those grants. That’s not an entry level position.

They don't care. As long as Trump gets his ego stroked and hurts brown people that's all MAGA cares about.

 

[ElChupacabra]

Is it?

It is. He is leading the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships which has $18 million dollar grant funding from DHS, so someone leading that group should have that kind of experience, not to mention experience in security and terrorism.

 

[BabaVoss]

Give the kid a break. He's too young and inexperienced to have developed any core competency.
That's a big improvement over many of trump's people.
Sure, they are inexperienced as well, but many have demonstrated incompetence.
Some more-so than others.
This kid hasn't had a chance to do that - yet.

 

[Questerr]

You'll have to ask those conservatives you're quoting. My comments have been about hiring unqualified people, but the Biden administration seemed to apply it mostly to non-white people (Karine Jean-Pierre, for example).

How is a former national spokesperson for a major political organization and prior to that a policy analyst unqualified to the Press Secretary?

 

[bomberfox]

Good job MAGA voters

"The inexperienced 22-year-old reportedly tasked by Donald Trump with tackling U.S. extremism was working as a neighborhood gardener just five years ago and in a grocery store as recently as August 2023, the Daily Beast can reveal.

Thomas Fugate, who graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio just 12 months ago, is currently heading up the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships at the DHS, as first reported by ProPublica Tuesday.

...

But according to the youngster’s LinkedIn page, Fugate has almost no experience in this field—and in 2020 was working as a self-employed ‘Landscape Business Owner.’

...

Fugate set up a political Instagram account last year, where his profile contains the motto, “Men used to do great things. I believe they still can."

Im more qualified to run DOGE because i actually have a degree in economics lol.

 

[bomberfox]

Well if a chicken farmer with batshit occultist fantasies can get into office, this guy can…

 

[Napoleon]

How is a former national spokesperson for a major political organization and prior to that a policy analyst unqualified to the Press Secretary?

You’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel when you have to turn to poaching a part-time employee from MoveOn and MSNBC.

 

[noonereal]

This puts us all in danger as has so many other things Trump has done.

I seriously wonder, is he bringing down American in purpose?

 

[Questerr]

You’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel when you have to turn to poaching a part-time employee from MoveOn and MSNBC.

I ask again, how was she unqualified?

 

[Napoleon]

I ask again, how was she unqualified?

I just told you.

 

[Emlee]

I didn't say he was an administrator. I said the job is administrative. Most such jobs are clerical, "coordinating." Sounds to me like a really bright young man doing a really bright young man's job.

From his photo, I thought he's white.

Sounds more like you’re just pulling things out of thin air.

No, it’s not just an administrative or clerical job and it doesn’t even remotely look like that.

It’s a high level leadership position. One he’s clearly sorely unqualified for.

If it was a job that this really bright young man was qualified for he would have been hired as a clerk in the department, not the head of the department.

————-

Some of his job description from grok:


Thomas C. Fugate III’s new role as the acting head of the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is primarily a leadership and managerial role, not strictly an administrative one, though it includes some administrative responsibilities. Here’s a breakdown:

• Leadership Responsibilities: Fugate oversees CP3’s mission to prevent domestic terrorism, hate-fueled attacks, school shootings, and other targeted violence. This involves strategic decision-making, policy implementation, and coordination with community organizations, law enforcement, and other stakeholders to counter violent extremism.
• Program Management: He manages an $18 million grant program under the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) initiative, which funds local governments, organizations, and academic institutions for prevention efforts. This requires oversight, evaluation, and strategic allocation of resources.
• Administrative Elements: The role likely includes administrative tasks such as managing budgets, reporting to senior DHS officials, and ensuring program compliance with departmental objectives. His prior role as a "special assistant" in an Immigration & Border Security suboffice also suggests familiarity with administrative duties, which may carry over.
• Non-Clerical Nature: While administrative tasks are part of the role, it is not clerical (e.g., data entry or basic office tasks). It involves high-level coordination, policy execution, and leadership of a critical DHS program.

Critics have highlighted Fugate’s limited national security experience, but the role itself is strategic and managerial, with administrative components secondary to its leadership focus.

 

[RetiredAtLast]

How is a former national spokesperson for a major political organization and prior to that a policy analyst unqualified to the Press Secretary?

Ask the people who worked there with her.

 

[Emlee]

More on his role:

No, Thomas C. Fugate III’s new role as the acting head of the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is not a clerical position.

It is a leadership role involving significant responsibilities, including:

• Overseeing CP3’s mission to prevent domestic terrorism, hate-fueled attacks, school shootings, and other targeted violence.
• Managing an $18 million grant program under the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) initiative, which funds community-based prevention efforts.
• Coordinating with community organizations, law enforcement, and other stakeholders to implement strategies against violent extremism.
• Executing and aligning DHS policies with CP3’s objectives, which includes strategic oversight and program evaluation.

While Fugate continues his prior role as a "special assistant" in an Immigration & Border Security suboffice, which may involve some administrative tasks, his acting head position at CP3 is a high-level, managerial role focused on policy implementation and program leadership, not clerical work. Critics have noted his limited national security experience, but the role itself is far from clerical in nature.

 

[RetiredAtLast]

It is. He is leading the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships which has $18 million dollar grant funding from DHS, so someone leading that group should have that kind of experience, not to mention experience in security and terrorism.

WOW! He must really be bright!

 

[RetiredAtLast]

Some of his job description from grok

AI is at least suspect, if not worse. But maybe the guy is a genuine wunderkind.

 

[bongsaway]

You didn’t know this position existed before now. It’s fundraising and pencil pushing. That you guys think it requires some 007 type figure is so weird.

It is rather odd to appoint someone so young to head a department.

 

[Napoleon]

It is rather odd to appoint someone so young to head a department.

I can understand if you don’t quite get the nuance, but this is a small office within DHS not a department unto itself.

 

[Questerr]

I just told you.

So being a national spokesperson and policy analyst doesn’t qualify one to be Press Secretary?

 

[bongsaway]

Maybe. Or maybe he showed such excellence during his work on the campaign that they feel he can do what sounds like a clerical job.

If nothing else, the folks on the right have turned it into a clerical job. It never ceases to amaze me the shit the right comes up with to protect their own. Trump appointed him, it must be ok.