Former Rep. Allen West (R-FL)—perhaps most known for his scorched-earth rhetoric and controversial comments, including accusing Wal-Mart of bowing to Sharia law by not allowing underage employees to sell alcohol and calling #BringBackOurGirls a distraction from Benghazi—met with top members of President-elect Donald Trump’s inner circle on Monday.
West told reporters at Trump Tower in New York that he discussed national security issues with Vice President-elect Mike Pence, retired Gen. Mike Flynn, and Kathleen Troia “KT” McFarland on Monday. Trump selected Flynn as his national security adviser and named McFarland as his deputy national security adviser in November.
“We talked about some national security issues, and you know how maybe I can continue to serve my country,” West said, according to a transition pool report.
He said that no particular position was offered to him.
“I mean they know my reputation very well,” West told reporters. “I’m just a simple soldier.”
“He can choose whoever he wants for secretary of state,” he added, saying that he was considering how to “best serve this country and through this administration.”
West was elected to his first term in the House in 2010 buoyed by strong Tea Party support. He often cited his record of military service when criticizing President Barack Obama’s leadership, though West was in fact forced out of the Army after presiding over an abusive interrogation during which he fired a pistol next to an Iraqi police officer’s head after first having the officer beaten.
He suggested that first lady Michelle Obama was trying to distract from unanswered questions about the 2012 attacks in Benghazi by condemning Boko Haram’s abduction of more than 270 Nigerian schoolgirls, which he called a “straw man.”
West also accused Wal-Mart of “caving to Muslim demands” in a blog post originally titled “Sharia law comes to Wal-mart?” after misconstruing a store policy prohibiting underage employees from selling cigarettes and alcohol.
He lost his House seat to Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-FL) after an ugly 2012 campaign full of attack ads.
