Former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton was handicapped in his bid to become President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state by his own mustache, according to a Washington Post report published Thursday.
The newspaper reported that several of Trump’s associates said they thought Bolton’s distinctive mustache hindered him in his pursuit of the nomination for secretary of state in Trump’s incoming administration.
“Donald was not going to like that mustache,” an anonymous associate of Trump’s was quoted as saying. “I can’t think of anyone that’s really close to Donald that has a beard that he likes.”
The President-elect’s unnamed associates told the Post that Trump had been drawn to 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson based on their “central casting” quality, a phrase which they said he frequently uses to refer to his process for staffing his administration.
On the campaign trail, Trump habitually took digs at his detractors’ appearances, saying he “wasn’t impressed” when Hillary Clinton walked in front of him at a presidential debate and attacking a reporter who accused him of forcibly kissing her in 2005 by implying that she wasn’t attractive enough.
Citing unnamed sources close to the President-elect, the Post also reported that Trump was seeking to appoint a “telegenic” woman to serve in a public-facing role in his administration, both to “attract viewers” and to shield him from further charges of sexism.
