In 2018, former President Donald Trump appointed television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz and professional athlete Herschel Walker to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.
Now President Joe Biden is demanding their resignations… under threat of termination.
The two just so happen to be running for Senate… as Republicans.
The Biden administration send two letters requesting resignations by 6 p.m. on Wednesday, a White House official told CNN that day.
Both appointees refused to resign.
“Clearly, Joe Biden can’t be around anyone who doesn’t completely fall in line with his fear-mongering authoritarian one-size-fits-all COVID handling. I am proud of my service and will not resign,” Oz told The Hollywood Reporter Wednesday.
Walker tweeted yesterday, “I’m not a quitter so you are going to have to fire me.”
If the CNN’s report is accurate, then they have each been fired by now.
The White House has already announced its replacements: professional athlete Elena Delle Donne and nonprofit restaurateur Jose Andres. Previously, the Biden administration faced criticism for firing Trump appointees from their board positions at military academies.
According to a White House official’s remarks to CNN, the Biden administration forbids federal candidates from serving on presidential boards.
CNN even speculated that Oz and Walker may have been violating the Hatch Act: a longstanding law prohibiting some federal officials from partisan activities.
Of course, they didn’t point out that White House press secretary Jen Psaki may have violated the Hatch Act last year by confirming Biden’s support for Democrat Terry McAuliffe in Virginia’s gubernatorial election, the watchdog group CREW alleged.
Oz and Walker each announced their campaigns for Senate while on the council. Oz is running for the Republican nomination in Pennsylvania’s competitive, closely watched race to fill an empty seat. Meanwhile, Walker has become the frontrunner for the GOP’s nomination to unseat Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock.
“President Biden is so scared about us beating Raphael Warnock that he has asked me to resign from my unpaid position on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition,” Walker tweeted on Wednesday.
Each candidate will appear on a primary ballot in May.
The Horn editorial team