Donald Trump's contentious cabinet picks stir heated #MeToo debate

With his imminent return to the White House in January, United States President-elect Donald Trump is set to make history as the country's first president found liable in a court case for sexual abuse. 

But, according to a news analysis by the New York Times, if Trump gets the team of his choice, he will not be the only one in the room whose conduct has been called into question.

During his re-election campaign, the 78-year-old Republican politician was wound up in a series of cases against him, including a civil trial last year in which he was found liable of sexually abusing and defaming the writer E Jean Carroll.

However, he still denies the accusations despite Carroll winning two civil court judgments against him for $83.3 million.

Similarly, Trump also said that over two dozen other women who have accused him of sexual misconduct were all lying.

Additionally, he is now assembling a cabinet filled with individuals similarly accused of variations of sexual misconduct and deny allegations against them just like Trump has.

His selections have raised significant concerns regarding the future of the #MeToo movement, a movement which profoundly impacted societal expectations around sexual misconduct over the past few years, the New York Times reported.

The kind of accusations that took down titans of Hollywood, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Washington, the news media, sports and state capitals have proved no obstacle in Trump’s selection process.

Despite numerous allegations against several of his appointees, Trump proceeded to select individuals for key positions in his administration.

He has appointed Matt Gaetz to head the Justice Department despite knowing that the Republican congressman has previously faced multiple accusations of sexual misconduct.

Likewise, accusations against Robert F Kennedy Jr regarding inappropriate behaviour toward a family babysitter did not deter Trump from choosing him to run the health department.

Trump also overlooked claims that tech billionaire Elon Musk fostered a sexually charged workplace that treated women as objects while tasking him with reinventing government. 

All of his nominees have denied intentional wrongdoing, and Trump appears to take them at their word.

"It really feels like that’s part of what makes this cabinet appealing” to him, said Leigh Gilmore, the author of 'The #MeToo Effect: What Happens When We Believe Women'. "Credible accusations of sexual assault aren’t a red line, because those are a feature of Trump’s own biography."

"The more people he can surround himself with that are not in any way slowed down by their rise to power by these kinds of allegations, it normalizes his own behavior," said Gilmore. "He's creating a worldview. He's shifting norms as he moves."