He falls in love with superior credentials.
The more elite boxes checked the better.
He simply does not want to be accused of hiring anything but A plus rated candidates.
He must have a latent inferiority complex, left over from having been born in Queens instead of Manhattan.
Yes, I remember before the Kavanaugh nomination, word leaked out that Trump said he wanted a “superstar from Harvard or Yale.” Granted, he ditched that criteria a couple years later when he went with Barrett, but it does seem obvious that Trump has (or at least had) a predilection for picking appointees with elite credentials. That’s how a Chris Wray ends up as FBI chief. Andover, Yale, Yale Law... and it’s like, “Wow. That’s my guy.”
Heh. More like McConnell gave Trump a list of candidates he would approve.
Trump knows how difficult it is to drain the swamp. He brought some of it (them) forward, front and center and now we know who a lot of them are.