--- title: Andrew Puzder Blames 'The Left' for His Nomination Downfall description: "The left is trying to sink as many of the President’s nominees as possible," he said canonical: https://time.com/4684521/andy-puzder-labor-nomination-left-fake-news/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-27T19:45:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:33:20.713Z article:section: Politics og:title: Former Labor Nominee Says the 'Left' Brought Him Down og:description: "They were going to campaign against me as a means of hurting the President." og:url: https://time.com/4684521/andy-puzder-labor-nomination-left-fake-news/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf037c7680ca544f4/6988bc37ab6d7779096ad043/gettyimages-624466586.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4338 og:image:height: 2440 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Holds Weekend Meetings In Bedminster, NJ og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Former Labor Nominee Says the 'Left' Brought Him Down twitter:description: "They were going to campaign against me as a means of hurting the President." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf037c7680ca544f4/6988bc37ab6d7779096ad043/gettyimages-624466586.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Former Labor Secretary Nominee Says the 'Left' Brought Him Down > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 27, 2017 7:45 PM UTC  Andrew Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants, exits after his meeting with president-elect Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Club, November 19, 2016 in Bedminster Township, New Jersey. Drew Angerer—Getty Images Andrew Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants, exits after his meeting with president-elect Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Club, November 19, 2016 in Bedminster Township, New Jersey. Drew Angerer—Getty Images Drew Angerer—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 27, 2017 7:45 PM UTC President Trump’s initial nominee for the position of [Labor Secretary, Andy Puzder](http://www.hughhewitt.com/andy-puzder-nomination-battle/#), is blaming the “the left” and “false” news stories for the controversy that led him to end his own nomination. In an interview with [conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt](http://www.hughhewitt.com/andy-puzder-nomination-battle/#), the CEO of CKE restaurants accused Democrats of engaging in a concerted effort to thwart his prospects of running the Labor Department and to ultimately keep Trump from succeeding in office. “The left is trying to sink as many of the President’s nominees as possible,” he said. “So in that sense, it really wouldn’t have mattered what I believed or who I was or what the process was. They were going to campaign against me as a means of hurting the President.” Puzder accused Democrats of being worried that the policies he would have pushed through if he were confirmed would have been successful and made their political arguments moot. “I don’t believe their concern was that I would be bad for workers,” Puzder said. “I think their concern was that I would pursue policies they opposed, and that workers would benefit. So the implications of that for the left would really have been devastating.” Puzder’s nomination was swollen with controversy from the start. Decades-old allegations of spousal abuse were resurfaced, including [an old episode of Oprah Winfrey’s talk show](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/womens-groups-fret-puzder-nomination-233449) that his ex-wife appeared on in disguise. Puzder’s ex-wife has since denied that the CEO was ever abusive. The Labor nominee also faced criticism after reports revealed he had [employed an undocumented immigrant ](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/labor-nominee-andrew-puzder-has-another-problem-undocumented-help%5Fus%5F5898dd2ce4b0c1284f278e16)that he did not pay back taxes on until [after he was nominated for the position](https://www.wsj.com/articles/puzder-paid-taxes-on-undocumented-employee-after-labor-secretary-nomination-1486498560). Concerns about labor violations at franchise restaurants, Puzder’s stance on the minimum wage, and previous statements on immigration reform also complicated his nomination. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4684521/andy-puzder-labor-nomination-left-fake-news/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4684521/andy-puzder-labor-nomination-left-fake-news/"},"headline":"Former Labor Secretary Nominee Says the 'Left' Brought Him Down","datePublished":"2017-02-27T19:45:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:33:20.713Z","description":"\"The left is trying to sink as many of the President’s nominees as possible\"","url":"https://time.com/4684521/andy-puzder-labor-nomination-left-fake-news/","keywords":["Donald Trump","White House","Cabinet"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf037c7680ca544f4/6988bc37ab6d7779096ad043/gettyimages-624466586.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf037c7680ca544f4/6988bc37ab6d7779096ad043/gettyimages-624466586.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Holds Weekend Meetings In Bedminster, NJ","caption":"Donald Trump Holds Weekend Meetings In Bedminster, NJ","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4684521/andy-puzder-labor-nomination-left-fake-news/","name":"Former Labor Secretary Nominee Says the 'Left' Brought Him Down"}}]}] ```