News

Who Is Trump's Debate Guest, Keith Kellogg?

by Zoe Ferguson

Many mysteries lurk in the dark, tragic swamp lagoon of Donald Trump's presidential campaign: why is he running as a Republican when he has shown himself to be too bigoted for much of the party to embrace? What does Trump think building a wall will actually accomplish? Has he ever read Humpty Dumpty? Aren't there some parameters for people who want to run our country, or can literally anyone do it? Attempts to address these questions often yield only more questions, but luckily I can help solve one mystery of this election cycle: who is Gen. Joseph "Keith" Kellogg, Trump's guest at the first debate?

Kellogg, is a retired Army lieutenant general and one of Trump's foreign policy advisors. In keeping with the small trend of Republicans who make up their own names, Kellogg goes by his middle name, Keith, just because he can. After 32 years in the Army, Kellogg helped run the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad from November 2003 to March 2004. For his service in the CPA, he received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. After his stint in Iraq, Kellogg joined intelligence consulting firm CACI as an executive vice president.

MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

You might be asking yourself, "Why did Trump even hire foreign policy advisors? Doesn't he rely solely on his own judgment when making important decisions?" After all, in March, he did tell MSNBC:

I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things.

Only a few days after that interview, however, Trump revealed a list of his foreign policy advisors, and while his choices may have some Drumpf-ian reasoning behind them, experts were baffled by his selections and Republicans rebuffed his choices. Kellogg's comrades on the Trump foreign policy team include Mitt Romney's controversial former policy aide Walid Phares, Ben Carson's former advisor George Papadopoulos, and a handful of military men who participated in the Iraq War.

Aside from Kellogg's experience in Iraq and his long career in the Army, what does he bring to Trump's team as an advisor? For one thing, his unequivocal support — as he told CNN, "I happen to think my guy has got the temperament to be the commander in chief. I happen to think my guy's got it right."

But though Breitbart hailed Kellogg's endorsement of Trump as a "change candidate," the hidden gem of Kellogg's feature was this quote:

I happen to think my guy is a black swan candidate.

Much has been said about Donald Trump, but the image of the candidate as a black swan is definitely among the most titillating. Hopefully we can expect more such quips from Kellogg as Trump's guest at the debate.