Is President Trump draining the swamp? | The Tylt

President Trump announced former Big Pharma executive Alex Azar would be nominated as HHS Secretary. Azar would replace Tom Price, who resigned after he was revealed to have abused taxpayer-funded dollars on private planes. 

Many have criticized Trump for appointing nominees to regulate the very industries they have ties to. According to Lachlan Markay and Sam Stein at The Daily Beast, more than 50 percent of Trump's nominees fit this criteria. Not exactly draining the swamp.

The Daily Beast examined 341 nominations the president has made to Senate-confirmed administration positions. Of those, more than half (179) have some notable conflict of interest, according to a comprehensive review of public records. One hundred and five nominees worked in the industries that they were being tasked with regulating; 63 lobbied for, were lawyers for, or otherwise represented industry members that they were being tasked with regulating; and 11 received payments or campaign donations from members of the industry that they were being tasked with regulating.

Seth Meyers called out Trump's "drain the swamp" pledge as nothing more than an empty promise.

"Is now-President Trump draining the swamp, or stocking it with a whole bunch of new critters? [...] It seems a more accurate three-word campaign promise would have been, ‘Run! Swamp monsters!'"

But others have applauded Trump for draining the swamp. Newt Gingrich praised Trump for sticking to his promises and pushing out establishment Republicans.

"Donald Trump really is draining the swamp, and the alligators are really unhappy... This guy is actually doing what he said he would do: We're getting conservative judges nominated. We are getting regulations rolled back."

And some blame establishment Republicans for holding back President Trump, threatening to drain them out of a job if they don't work with Trump.

But others find Trump's actions speak volumes about his true intentions.