Trump taps lesbian Tammy Bruce as deputy UN representative. But is that a promotion?

President Donald Trump has nominated one of the most prominent out members of his administration, Tammy Bruce, to a post at the United Nations. The lesbian and former radio host previously served as the State Department spokesperson under Secretary of State Marco Rubio. But the hire has already drawn skepticism about whether it’s a promotion.

“I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Tammy Bruce, a Great Patriot, Television Personality, and Bestselling Author, as our next Deputy Representative of the United States to the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“Since the beginning of my Second Term, Tammy has been serving with distinction as Spokesperson of the State Department, where she did a fantastic job. Tammy Bruce will represent our Country brilliantly at the United Nations. Congratulations Tammy!”

Bruce welcomed the appointment, which requires Senate confirmation. She addressed the appointment at her last State Department briefing with the press.

“You have no doubt seen President Trump’s Truth Social post announcing his intention to nominate me as his deputy ambassador at the United Nations. His intention was a surprise, as was his request last Christmas asking me to become the spokesperson at the State Department,” Bruce said.

“I was astounded then and remain deeply honored and grateful for the president’s trust in me. This is especially moving as it allows me to continue serving the State Department – to which I am now quite attached, I think that’s maybe obvious to some of you – and our great country on the global stage of the United Nations.”

But Bruce’s path to the White House was an unusual one. She started as a liberal activist and the first queer woman to host a national talk show on mainstream radio, as noted by them. She also headed the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization for Women, but broke with the group in the late 1990s after protesting O.J. Simpson’s acquittal and making “racially insensitive statements.”

She inched further to the right when she publicly defended homophobic comments by fellow talk show host Laura “Dr. Laura” Schlessinger in a Los Angeles Times op-ed in 2000, and became a full-fledged conservative media figure by the time she joined Fox News, where she once co-hosted Fox & Friends with now-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

In that role, she controversially said she wished she could “give back” the COVID-19 vaccine. She also criticized former President Joe Biden for saying “all women and men are created equal” at an international summit, which she considered an unwarranted correction to the wording of the Declaration of Independence.

While Bruce has welcomed the new appointment, some in Washington are questioning if it truly marks a step up from being the face of the State Department.

Former U.S. deputy U.N. ambassador Robert Wood, who also served as deputy State Department spokesperson, told the Associated Press that he was skeptical Bruce was being rewarded.

“Given the disdain in MAGA world for anything U.N., it’s hard to imagine Tammy Bruce’s nomination as U.S. Deputy Representative to the U.N. being seen as a promotion,” he said.

She notably will work under Mike Waltz, presuming his confirmation by the Senate as Ambassador to the U.N. Waltz was announced to as Trump’s choice for that role after his apparent ouster as White House National Security Adviser following the Signalgate scandal, in which Waltz mistakenly invited The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a chat with administration leaders about impending military strikes on the Houthis in Yemen.