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President Donald Trump has appointed Fox News host Mark Levin to serve on an advisory council for the Department of Homeland Security, increasing his administration’s roster of figures from the conservative propaganda operation.
“I am proud to announce the formation of my revamped Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC), which is comprised of Top Experts in their field, who are highly respected by their peers,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump said that the council would work with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to develop strategies for deporting immigrants and countering drug trafficking.
Trump loves to surround himself with Fox News faces. In fact, according to Media Matters for America, the Trump administration welcomed at least 21 former Fox News staffers by the end of March.
Levin is best known for his weekend program, “Life, Liberty, and Levin,” and his syndicated radio program, during which he offered up conspiratorial and inflammatory commentary on political events.
On his program, Levin presented tortured defenses and excuses for Trump’s unconstitutional actions. For instance, in 2018 when Trump was under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, Levin whined about “this coup that is taking place.” He also called Mueller a “hitman” who was “out to get the president.”
Trump has regularly rewarded Fox News commentators who defend him with jobs and board appointments in his administration.
Levin is in lockstep with Trump, arguing in favor of pardoning the insurrectionists from January 6, 2021. Trump did just that, and some have since gone on to commit new crimes.
The host was perhaps at his most disconnected from reality when President Barack Obama was in office. Levin accused Obama of being a racist, falsely saying that his policies would bring about World War III and that his administration was pro-genocide and pro-rape.
Levin presents himself as something of a legal scholar, frequently criticizing legal judgements that go against conservative ideals or GOP officials. But actual legal experts have called his expertise into question.
In 2005, Slate writer Dahlia Lithwick reviewed Levin’s book “Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America.”
“I use the word ‘book’ with some hesitation: Certainly it possesses chapters and words and other book-like accoutrements. ‘Men in Black’ is 208 large-print pages of mostly block quotes (from court decisions or other legal thinkers) padded with a foreword by the eminent legal scholar Rush Limbaugh,” she wrote.
Lithwick went on to say that “one of the reasons it’s impossible to call ‘Men in Black’ a work of legal scholarship is that there is not an original piece of analysis in it,” and dismissed the content as “a.m.-radio bile.”
Levin’s presentations are so strange that he became the subject of a satirical YouTube account that layered his radio monologues over imagery of the pompous character Master Shake from the series “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” Levin’s nonsense lines up almost perfectly with the ridiculous cartoon character, a walking and talking cup.
This is a figure Trump regards as a “top expert” deserving influence over a critical federal agency.
Meanwhile, Trump also announced that former NYPD detective and Fox News pundit Bo Dietl would be appointed to the advisory council.
Dietl was once hired by Fox News founder Roger Ailes to dig up dirt on multiple women who accused Ailes of sexual harassment. Ailes was finally booted from the network after it was disclosed that he had been abusing women for years.
Trump loves hiring from Fox News. From scandal-plagued Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to anti-diversity Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to outburst-prone Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino—a stint at Fox News is a golden ticket to the Trump administration.
But Trump’s latest Fox News appointments further demonstrate that expertise and ethics do not apply—just appearances on his favorite network.
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