Four years ago, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti had dreams of being president.
Today, his parents are hiring lobbyists to get him hired as ambassador to India amid bipartisan reluctance to confirm his nomination.
What a fall from grace.
As I’ve previously written, I couldn’t be happier about Garcetti’s imploding political career. Garcetti has consistently failed on every issue of significance. The city of Los Angeles today is best known for its homeless crisis, skyrocketing cost-of-living and, increasingly, violent crime. Meanwhile, City Hall on his watch is best known for having its doors kicked down by the feds.
But wait, there’s more. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, ordered an investigation into whether Garcetti knew about allegations his close aide Rick Jacobs engaged in sexual harassment. The conclusion? Garcetti “more likely than not” knew or should have known Jacobs was allegedly sexually harassing people.
Back in April, Axios reported that staffers in Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office acknowledged there weren’t 50 votes to confirm Garcetti. If Democratic senators have any decency, they’d come out in opposition to Garcetti’s appointment.
As our editorial board recently noted:
It’s hard to imagine that reluctant senators will be persuaded by a lobbyist’s pressure on this particular nomination. India “is maybe the most pivotal country to the current crisis,” said Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. “If they make a choice to join the West instead of to stay linked to Russia, it has huge implications for both China and Russia.”
Murphy said he has not given up on the L.A. mayor’s nomination, but he thinks “the White House has to make a call” in the next “couple of weeks.” Garcetti was nominated in July.
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Murphy should give up on Garcetti’s nomination. As he knows, India is pivotal. Garcetti’s specific nomination isn’t. It makes no sense to allow scandal-plagued Garcetti the opportunity to represent the United States, unless scandal-plagued mediocre politicians best represent the U.S. government.
(On second thought….)
Garcetti can go get a real job. He can become a nonprofit grifter or write a book on how to fail upward. But he shouldn’t be ambassador to India.
Sal Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected]