Donald Trump announced yesterday that he has nominated Kirstjen Nielsen as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, filling the position vacated by John Kelly, who left DHS in order to serve as the president’s chief of staff. Nielsen served as Kelly’s deputy at DHS and went to the White House with him after Reince Priebus’s departure in July.

This move has yet to merit a single glowing report from the mainstream media or from left-wing pundits and politicians who love to praise powerful women — at least when those women are progressive. Nielsen’s nomination is just the latest instance of this double standard in action.

From my NRO piece last month on the Left’s single-sided praise for empowered women:

Left-leaning media outlets and commentators never tire of glorifying powerful women who supposedly outstrip men on their rise to the top. But that praise is utterly contingent on whether or not those powerful women hold the progressive-approved point of view on every issue. As soon as an accomplished woman fails to fall in line with the preferred Democratic agenda, the feverish applause for female accomplishment immediately dies out. . . .
Either every successful woman deserves to be praised for furthering the goal of female empowerment, or public figures should be judged based on the content of their accomplishments rather than their gender. It is intensely hypocritical for those on the supposedly pro-woman left to demand that all women swear utter fealty to progressivism or risk complete destruction at the hands of popular culture. A truly feminist approach wouldn’t force conservative women to make that choice.

This unfair dichotomy has been readily apparent throughout Trump’s presidency so far. At every turn, he has been accompanied and aided by powerful women: Kellyanne Conway, the first female campaign manager to secure a presidential victory; communications director Hope Hicks, who played a prominent role behind the scenes of Trump’s successful campaign; Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who currently serves as only the third White House press secretary in history.

None of these women have received acclaim from progressives for their indisputable success. In fact, they’re often treated as if they were traitors to all women because they dare to work in the Trump administration. Surely there is room to disagree with Trump’s methods, and it’s understandable that progressives would dislike his policy choices. But anyone who claims to care about female empowerment for its own sake must acknowledge and praise the president for his willingness to entrust women with crucial leadership roles.